John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 202: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food her Department's role in the implementation of the recommendations of the Taskforce on Obesity; if she has satisfied herself in relation to progress in implementing these recommendations; if she is further satisfied regarding the results to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32925/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department's role in the implementation of the Report of the National Taskforce on Obesity relates to the recommendations directed to my Department viz.

The Department of Agriculture and Food together with the Department of Health and Children should promote the implementation of evidence-based healthy eating interventions,

and

The Department of Agriculture and Food should review policies in partnership with other government departments to promote access to healthy food. Such policies should encompass positive discrimination in the provision of grants and funding to local industry in favour of healthy products.

The Scientific Study on Children's Diet, which was co-funded by my Department and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, was the first study to benchmark dietary intakes of a nationally representative sample of Irish children. The work was carried out by researchers in Trinity College, Dublin and University College, Cork who surveyed 600 children aged 5-12 years from primary schools throughout Ireland during 2003 and 2004 and collected information on diet, physical activity and body measurements on each child as well as lifestyle information for both the children and their parents. This is the first comprehensive scientific evaluation of dietary intake in children in Ireland and provides direction for the dietary strategies that need to be established to prevent obesity in Irish children.

The Scientific Study identified inadequate consumption of milk, fresh meat and fruit and vegetables among the young. Last August I launched a new school milk scheme. The new revamped scheme has a broader range of milk products on offer including flavoured milk, low-fat and fortified options and with the improved packaging will I believe encourage more milk consumption among schoolchildren.

A pilot measure to encourage fruit and vegetable consumption has commenced its second year in operation and on completion will be introduced to 120 primary schools. Managed by An Bord Bia, the programme, which is funded jointly by the EU Commission, my Department and WPI, a trade body, aims to increase consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables by primary school children in school and at home. It was developed by the University of Wales, Bangor and is based on positive role models (the Food Dudes characters), repeated tasting and rewards. Studies show that it can deliver long-lasting results across the primary age range, regardless of gender, school size, geographic and socio-economic factors. It is designed to enable children enjoy healthy diets, and to create a healthy eating culture within schools. It is a three-year programme. The results of the first year have been very encouraging.

As regards the recommendation that my Department's policies should encompass positive discrimination in the provision of grants and funding to local industry in favour of healthy products, subsidising prices is a form of state aid that is not permissible under EU state-aid rules. Discrimination between products could also result in a challenge on competition grounds at national or EU level. I will, however, look at all the possibilities open to me in this area within legal constraints including state aid rules. The Plan of Action, which I launched earlier this year to implement the 2015 Agri-Vision Report, sets out a series of measures to maintain high standards of food safety, quality and traceability at all levels.