Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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486. To ask the Minister for Health the health promotion campaigns that have been carried out in 2020 by his Department or the HSE to encourage members of the public to boost their immune system (details supplied), specifically to aid in the fight against Covid-19. [42893/20]

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Healthy Ireland has led a number of cross government communications campaigns designed to help people look after their physical and mental wellbeing during the COVID-19 crisis. The first of these was launched by An Taoiseach in April 2020. The #InThisTogether campaign offered advice, support and information around a range of themes, which included being active, eating well, coping at home, cocooning, the leaving cert and looking after your mental health, as well as signposting to other relevant and useful resources. The campaign encouraged people to make small simple changes to their everyday lives, such as eating a more balanced diet, increasing fruit and vegetable intake, drinking more water and watching portion sizes. It also advised people on the benefits of daily exercise, particularly outdoor exercise and the positive effects of that on physical and mental wellbeing. The #InThisTogether campaign was delivered across social media, radio, and digital and involved a wide range of partner and stakeholder collaboration, including Sport Ireland, Safefood, Local Authorities, Libraries, HSE, and other Government Departments. This campaign ran until mid-June.

Following on from this campaign, a second campaign was launched by An Taoiseach in October 2020, aligned with the Government’s Resilience and Recovery Plan for living with COVID-19. The #KeepWell campaign is aimed at promoting resilience and positive physical and mental health and wellbeing. This campaign is organised under five themes; Keeping Active, Eating Well, Staying connected, Switching off and Being Creative, and Minding your Mood. This campaign is being delivered via social media, TV, Radio, print and digital and will run to spring 2021. This campaign again involves the collaboration of many stakeholders and partners, with an emphasis placed on local initiatives and resources. Sláintecare has provided €7m to support the delivery of initiatives and services with a range of partners including the Local Authorities, CYPSC, Sport Ireland, the HSE, Creative Ireland, Libraries Ireland and Bord Bia. More information on the campaign can be found at gov.ie/healthyireland.

I have also asked the HSE to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.