Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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839. To ask the Minister for Health if the minutes of the obesity policy implementation and oversight group are published; if so, their location; if they are not available publicly, if they will be provided; the number of times that the group or its subgroups have met in the past year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36137/22]

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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‘A Healthy Weight for Ireland’, the Government’s Obesity Policy and Action Plan (OPAP), was launched in September 2016 under the auspices of the Healthy Ireland agenda.It covers a ten year period up to 2025 and aims to reverse obesity trends, prevent health complications and reduce the overall burden for individuals, families, the health system, and the wider society and economy.

An Obesity Policy Implementation Oversight Group (OPIOG) was established in October 2017. There are currently two Sub Groups, a Healthy Eating Sub Group and a Healthcare Sub Group.

The OPIOG met three times in 2021, in March, June and November; and once so far in 2022, in March. Minutes are available on the Department's website, once approved at the subsequent meeting, at the link below:

www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/98c139-combatting-obesity/

The Healthy Eating Sub Group has met four times in the last year, and the Healthcare Sub Group has met five times in the same period.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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840. To ask the Minister for Health when the evaluation of the obesity policy and action plan undertaken by University College Cork will be published; when his Department will respond to the evaluation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36138/22]

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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The Department has received a final draft of the evaluation of the Obesity Policy and Action Plan (OPAP) carried out by the Centre for Health and Diet Research, University College Cork. The evaluation includes an assessment of progress under the actions of the OPAP by a panel of independent experts.

The evaluation is informing the review of the OPAP which is being carried out by the Department. It is expected that both the evaluation and the review will be published in the third quarter of this year.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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841. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the evaluation of the sugar sweetened drinks tax in Ireland; the current stage of the evaluation; when it will be finished and published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36139/22]

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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The Sugar-Sweetened Drinks Tax was introduced on 1st May 2018, and has now been in operation for more than four years. The introduction of the tax was an important action in the Obesity Policy and Action Plan, with the aim of combatting obesity through reducing consumption of added sugar in drinks and encouraging reformulation of products by the drinks industry.

Initial indications are that the tax has had a positive impact, particularly in terms of encouraging drinks producers to reduce the sugar content in their products. However, a more comprehensive analysis of the effects of the tax is needed, and the Department thus commenced an evaluation of the measure.

The first step in this process was to look at existing examples that could inform the methodology to assess the impacts of the tax. This literature review and data scoping exercise enabled the Department to make an assessment of the potential approaches to evaluate the impact of the tax and the timelines and resources required for the evaluation. The Department has also developed links with researchers who are working on projects relevant to the evaluation topic, which has impacted upon the nature and timeline of the work. These timelines are currently being finalised.