Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I raise the sugar tax, an issue I have raised on a good number of times over the years in the context of obesity. We need to have a renewed focus on treatment and prevention. Figures show that the Exchequer received €32 million from the sugar tax which was introduced last year. I hope I am not wasting my time by repeating that this money should be ring-fenced and spent on nutritional and educational incentives for children and parents, subsidies for physical activity and water fountains in towns and cities. Prevention is obviously better than cure and all of these measures would help prevent obesity.

On the expansion of treatment for obesity, there is only one proper bariatric treatment unit in Dublin. Foresight is needed on this issue. It may be the case that treatment is expensive to provide in the short term but over the long term it will save the health service a fortune if we take this matter seriously. We need a modern healthcare system that could be partly funded by these tax revenues. The whole point of the sugar tax was to incentivise more healthy choices when it comes to drinks. The obesity experts say that sugar-laden drinks are a major contributor to childhood obesity. If the money just goes in to the general Exchequer, it will not make any major inroads into an area that really needs funding. There is a precedent for this in the plastic bag levy. Much of the income from that levy was reinvested in environmental projects. We are missing a trick if we do not ring-fence this money. I feel very strongly about this issue.