Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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233. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 378 to 381, inclusive, of 17 October 2017, the membership of the obesity policy implementation group for the national policy and action plan; the way in which members were chosen to sit on this group; the external health organisations that will be a part of this group; if the oversight group regularly meet and consult with health organisations; the regularity with which this group will meet; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44673/17]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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234. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 378 to 381, inclusive, of 17 October 2017, the number of working groups it is envisioned will be established within the overall national oversight structure of the obesity policy implementation group for the national policy and action plan; the work that will be undertaken by these groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44674/17]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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236. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 378 to 381, inclusive, of 17 October 2017, the way in which he will consider and develop an effective methodology to monitor and evaluate the impact of the sugar sweetened drinks tax, including its impact on reformulation (details supplied); the timeframe for this to commence; if the appropriate resources are in place to do this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44676/17]

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 233, 234 and 236 together.

The national Obesity Policy Implementation Oversight Group (OPIOG) - under the Chair of my Department - is comprised of representatives from the following Departments and Agencies: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; Department of Children and Youth Affairs; Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection; Department of Education and Skills; Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government; University College Cork; the Food Safety Authority of Ireland; the Health Service Executive (HSE) - including the National Clinical Lead for Obesity; and Safefood.

Government Departments and key Agencies with responsibility for implementing policy and with relevant expertise and experience, were invited by the Chief Medical Officer of my Department to propose representatives to join the OPIOG. I am pleased to advise the Deputy that the OPIOG held its inaugural meeting on the 19 of October last with further meetings to be arranged at agreed intervals for the purposes of providing oversight to the implementation of the national Obesity Policy & Action Plan (OPAP).

At its inaugural meeting, the OPOIG agreed to establish two sub-groups for Reformulation and Healthy Eating. Further sub-groups will be established as required. Both sub-groups have agreed to meet and agree their draft Terms of Reference, which in the interim, remain under active consideration in the Department. The work of the Reformulation sub-group - including work on methodology for measuring the efficacy of the Sugar Sweetened Drinks Tax - is therefore at an early stage. I expect that the elaboration of such methodologies will evolve over the course of this work.

Finally, I am pleased to advise the Deputy that the OPIOG will identify processes for engaging with networks of stakeholders, including health organisations. The OPIOG will therefore elaborate on this aspect of its functions over the course of its work to implement the OPAP that runs up to 2025.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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235. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 378 to 381, inclusive, of 17 October 2017, the resources that are required for the independent testing of foods for fat and sugar content; if estimates have been submitted for same; the negotiations that have taken place regarding the use of external laboratories for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44675/17]

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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In the context of the Deputy's question, my Department liaises with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) on a regular basis.

The FSAI has been validating food industry salt reduction work for many years. It has carried out this work by sampling foods from the market and having them analysed in the HSE Public Analysts Laboratory in Galway. This data is published annually and is available on the FSAI website.

The FSAI is exploring the validation of FDI sugar and fat reduction work. In the first instance, it has been developing baseline data on specific foods based on food labelled data and a report on this work is expected in the coming weeks.

At its inaugural meeting, the Obesity Policy Oversight Implementation Group (OPOIG) agreed to establish a sub-group on Reformulation, which will primarily set targets on reformulation of food and drink. It will also make recommendations on addressing reduction of portion sizes and on monitoring and validation procedures; and in this context, the question of resources required for independent testing of foods - including by external laboratories - will be considered.