Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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212. To ask the Minister for Health if he will set out the details by year and monetary amount of what his Department has supported in respect of health-related campaigns by organisations involved in health advocacy or health initiatives; the names of such organisations; and the safeguards he has in place to ensure value for taxpayers' money in view of the failure of the myGP.ie website, which was operated by the Irish Medical Organisation and which received grants from his Department totalling €2,031,000 from 2001 to 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12305/14]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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My Department administers a National Lottery Discretionary Fund, from which once-off grants are awarded to community and voluntary organisations, providing health related services. Organisations which are awarded a grant must certify their expenditure on completion of the project. Details are available on my Department’s website.

With the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) in Northern Ireland, my Department sponsors Safefood, the Food Safety Promotion Board (FSPB). Safefood is a North/South body set up to protect and improve public health by fostering and maintaining confidence in the food supply on the island of Ireland. Sponsorship details follow the reply.

In 2012, to ensure value for money, my Department and the DHSSPS carried out reviews of the role and responsibilities of the FSPB and its interaction with other organisations working in the food safety, diet and nutrition areas in their respective jurisdictions. These provided the basis for enhanced communications structures between the organisations, helped clarify the role of the FSPB and informed their Business Planning process.

The FSPB adopts a value-for-money approach to all its activities and best practice corporate governance is applied. Their annual Business Plan is examined by both sponsor Departments and the respective Finance Departments, and then approved by the North/South Ministerial Council. Between 2011 and 2013, savings of 9% have been achieved and measures designed to achieve annual efficiency savings of 4% from 2014 to 2016 are in place.