Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 23 May 2017
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health
Engagement with Mr. Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety
12:00 pm
Dr. Vytenis Andriukaitis:
Yes, it is a problem across Europe. I am more than happy to send that message to my colleagues Commissioner Corina Creu, who has responsibility for Structural Funds, and Commissioner Marianne Thyssen, who is responsible for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and manages the Social Fund. The Commissioners responsible for energy union, Commissioners Maroš Šefovi and Miguel Arias Cañete, speak a great deal about housing and the energy efficiency of houses, and it would be good to discuss those issues with other member states. With the help of the European Investment Bank, it should be possible to use such European advice when discussing issues together. We have a health programme but it deals with behavioural issues such as consumption of tobacco, alcohol, drug users and so on. I would be happy to activate a discussion on social determinants.