Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, to the House. Senator Noone has four minutes to outline her case.

Catherine Noone (Fine Gael)
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This Commencement debate is on the topic of obesity and concerns the need for the Minister for Health to provide an update on the healthy weight for Ireland action plan. The plan is now two years old and there has been no update on its progress despite a pledge to conduct mid-term reviews and report annually.

Cancer Research UK launched a campaign this week warning that obesity is set to overtake smoking as a cause of cancer in women. The low level of public knowledge of the risks and links between obesity and cancer is very serious. Ireland is facing a silent epidemic of obesity and Irish people are on course to be the heaviest in Europe.The action plan A Healthy Weight for Ireland, launched in 2016, contained a pledge to report annually, but its progress has not been reported on. Tackling the rise of obesity must be made a priority as we are sleepwalking into a nightmare scenario. It is an issue I have raised numerous times in the House. By allowing obesity levels to rise unchecked, we are putting a massive additional strain on the health service. At the same time, the population is ageing, which will put its own strain on the health service.

I am aware that the Minister of State is doing a good deal of work in this area. I would be grateful to receive some response on the progress made and any further measure that will be implemented to deal with this very serious issue that places a huge burden on the State. We talk about the fiscal space, but the fiscal space would be much larger if we dealt with the problem of obesity to prevent cancer and diabetes related illnesses and a myriad others due to lifestyle. It is very difficult to quantify the cost, but it is estimated to be approximately €2.6 billion annually. We could do a great deal for citizens with that money if we could adopt a better approach to our lifestyles. As a nation, we are becoming fatter, with all of the risks that come with it.

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for tabling this Commencement matter. I know how much the issue means to her. I have heard her speak many times about the issue of obesity and know that she has a real passion to ensure, through A Healthy Weight for Ireland, we will proceed to implement our strategy to tackle obesity.

I thank the Senator for giving me the opportunity to speak to the House about the important topic of obesity, which is a public health priority. The House is already aware that the Government's national obesity policy and action plan were launched in September 2016 under the umbrella of the Healthy Ireland agenda. They recommended that an evaluation framework for progress in implementing the plan be designed. The Department of Health has initiated this evaluation under step 10 of the plan and will report annually, with the first report expected in 2019. The House will be aware that the policy prescribed ten steps forward that would be taken to prevent overweight and obesity. Some early progress on actions under these steps has been achieved. Of course, as with all of our work under Healthy Ireland, cross-departmental and cross-sectoral co-operation is fundamental to our approach to implementation. This is reflected in the national obesity policy implementation oversight group which has been established under the chairmanship of the Department of Health and consists of representatives from a range of Departments and agencies. Sub-groups on reformulation and healthy eating have been established as initial priority areas for action. The sub-group on reformulation recently held a workshop with key food sector stakeholders. A sugar sweetened drinks tax commenced on 1 May this year and work is under way with the Department of Finance on an evaluation of this measure. Engagement is also continuing with other Departments to support the work of stakeholders involved in planning and developing the built environment. I am pleased to advise the House that it is intended to hold a stakeholder forum in November under this theme. In addition, a voluntary code of practice for food and beverages promotion, marketing and sponsorship has also been developed involving representatives from the food industry, the advertising sector, statutory agencies and various Departments. The code was published in February and work is under way to implement it.

New healthy eating guidelines, a food pyramid and supporting resources have been published and circulated. Work has also commenced to develop healthy eating guidelines for the one to five years age group. The House may also wish to know that new nutrition standards for schools, with an initial focus on school meal programmes funded by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, have also been developed. They were developed with the assistance of safefood, the Health Service Executive, the school meals programme in the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and the Department of Education and Skills.

Other work taking place includes implementation of a breastfeeding action plan and a new Making Every Contact Count brief intervention framework; the appointment last year of Professor Donal O’Shea as first clinical lead for obesity; the introduction in the general practitioner under-sixes contract of health assessments, including weight checks; and a five-year communications campaign called START that supports parents in making healthy choices surrounding food and activity.Under the broader Healthy Ireland agenda, a number of other major initiatives support the obesity policy, including a national physical activity plan. Implementation of the plan is well under way, in collaboration with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and a range of other stakeholders.

Catherine Noone (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. I thought there would be an annual report in advance of 2019. It does not make much sense to me. There is an urgency to this issue, and the idea that we would put a plan in place in 2016 and not get any feedback on it for three years does not make sense to me.

In addition, I have difficulty with the code of practice to which the Minister of State refers. By its voluntary nature there is no impetus on television or radio providers to do anything about it. When one watches the children's movies and so forth on RTÉ, there are rules where it needs to be more than 50% children who are watching it. The broadcasting agencies have all sorts of statistics about how those movies are mostly watched by adults, but I do not buy that. I do not think adults are sitting down watching the children's movie on a Saturday. Some of them may be in the house, but how do the agencies quantify who is actually looking at the television?

Advertising is still allowed to be shown at that time, and there needs to be a more mandatory level when it comes to advertising. There needs to be a watershed whereby after a certain time in the evening these types of sugary and fattening sweet drinks, food and confectionary are not advertised, in order that children do not see these advertisements. There is a problem with the online space as well, which must also be seriously addressed.

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I understand the Senator's frustration with the annual report. I had hoped I would have been able to give a little more information on that in my reply this afternoon. I will proceed, however, to look at it again.

On the code of practice and its voluntary nature, one might say that when it was launched it was conservative. In the meantime, however, there has been much action on the code of practice, and many agencies have come on board. I know a number of shops, outlets and other areas are also beginning to take it on board. I was struck in my local supermarket by how it has been rearranged in order that fruit and vegetables are at the front of the shop rather than what had been there in the first place. It is a voluntary code of practice and we need to continue to work on it. We might need to emphasise the fact that responsibility comes with having a business and with serving young children, and this is seen on a daily basis.

When the sugar tax came in, like many people I was a bit wary of it and where it would go. As I have continued in my journey in this Department, however, I see the changes as soft drinks manufacturers are starting to take on board many of the things that were raised. I will take into account the Senator's point about online services and I will ensure the Department reverts to the Senator.