Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 275: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the policies introduced by her Department to promote access to healthy food; her views on introducing positive discrimination in the provision of grants and funding to local industry in favour of healthy products; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9499/08]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department's primary responsibility is to ensure the sustainable development of a competitive consumer-focused agri-food sector and to contribute to a vibrant rural economy and society and that only food which meets the highest standards of food safety and quality enters the food chain. All of the control systems in place within my Department acting in co-operation with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland are designed to guarantee the production of safe wholesome and traceable food.

Having said that, I am very much aware of the desirability of a good balanced diet for optimum health. Many of our attitudes to health and the influences on our lives are set in childhood and research suggests that food consumption patterns are established early in life. 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 Scientific Study identified inadequate consumption of milk, fresh meat and fruit and vegetables among the young.

The school milk scheme and the Food Dude programme are designed to address this. The school milk scheme was revamped in 2006 and has a broader range of milk products on offer including flavoured milk, low-fat and fortified options to encourage milk consumption. The National Food Dude Programme has among its objectives the increased consumption of fresh fruit & vegetables among school children during school time and at home as well as a change in parental behaviour towards purchase and consumption of fresh fruit & vegetables. This programme, which it is planned to run over a 4-5 year period, commenced last year following a very successful pilot. Some 625 schools and 85,000 children will receive the programme this year.

Positive discrimination in the provision of grants and funding to local industry in favour of healthy products is a form of state aid that is not permissible under EU state-aid rules.