Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 127: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the recommendations of the task force on obesity; if each recommendation has been implemented; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15398/06]

Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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As part of the reform of the health services the responsibility for implementing relevant recommendations from the report of the National Task Force on Obesity has transferred from the Department of Health and Children to the population health directorate of the Health Service Executive. Revenue funding of €3 million has been allocated to the Health Service Executive to progress the implementation of relevant recommendations of the National Task Force on Obesity.

Projects approved to take place during 2006 include: expanding the Healthy Food Made Easy programme; recruiting four physical activity officers to target obesity in all settings; providing four specialist community dietician posts for obesity and weight management to support all initiatives; purchasing equipment for growth monitoring; and further progressing work with the food service sector on healthy food provision.

The Health Service Executive plans to: consolidate the one existing obesity service that operates from St. Colmcille's Hospital in Loughlinstown and support the development of additional centres based in Cork, Galway and north Dublin; and commence the development of a service for children based at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin. Some €400,000 has been allocated to develop the service in St. Colmcille's Hospital in 2006. This will allow for the appointment of additional relevant staff and improvements to the physical infrastructure.

The Food Dude programme positively alters children's behaviour regarding consumption of fruit and vegetables. Bord Bia has received EU funding to extend this programme to 150 primary schools over three years. This funding is matched by an equal contribution from Government and the fresh produce industry. The roll-out of the programme commenced in October 2005 and will reach over 30,000 children in the three-year period. The programme is fully endorsed by the Department of Education and Science, which is facilitating its implementation in the selected schools and the in-service training of the in-school co-ordinators.

There is a need to focus on the underlying causes of obesity and this requires collective action across Departments, with the private sector and other statutory and non-statutory agencies. The Department of Health and Children is currently developing a proposal for the establishment of a Health improvement forum, which will have the capacity to co-ordinate health promotion and population health approaches across ministries and to provide a support structure for the implementation of the multi-sectoral recommendations of the report of the national task force on obesity.