Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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362. To ask the Minister for Health the initiatives that will be undertaken within a health care programme in 2023 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63050/22]

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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At county level, the Healthy Ireland Programme provides funding to Local Authorities and Children and Young People’s Services Committees (CYPSC). The Healthy Ireland Programme does not directly fund voluntary agencies at county level, funding is allocated via the Local Community Development Committees of each Local Authority or by the CYPSC to locally identified actions.Several schemes will be available at county level from the Healthy Ireland Programme in 2023, these include:- Healthy Ireland Round 4- Sláintecare Healthy Communities Seed Funding- Period Poverty Pilot Scheme- Children and Young Persons Services Committees

The Healthy Ireland Fund, Round 4, commenced in June 2022 and will run until 2025. An allocation of €75,000 has been provided to each Local Authority for 2023. A process is currently underway for each Local Authority to interrogate locally available data and information and to identify up to two priorities from the Healthy Ireland Outcomes Framework. Following this process, they will be submitting proposals to address these outcomes at the end of January 2023 to Pobal for assessment. It is anticipated that this process will also assist in the identification of objectives for the Local Economic and Community Plan for each county.

To facilitate the identification process and the implementation of actions, the Healthy Ireland Programme has provided funding to each Local Authority for a Healthy City/County Coordinator at Grade VI since June 2022. Training and support is being provided to each Local Authority by a national office which is located in Waterford County Council.

The Sláintecare Healthy Communities Programme has been operationalised in 19 communities via 14 Local Authorities, including: Cavan County Council, Cork City Council, Donegal County Council, Dublin City Council, Kildare County Council, Limerick City and County Council, Longford County Council, Mayo County Council, South Dublin County Council, Tipperary County Council, Waterford City & County Council, Westmeath County Council, Wexford County Council and Wicklow County Council. The Healthy Ireland Programme has provided €75,000 in seed funding for 2023 for use in each area to address health inequalities. Each area has governance arrangements via the Local Community Development Committee to identify and approve funding for locally identified actions.

Healthy Ireland has also funded 26 Local Authorities to progress period poverty mitigation projects. The importance of these efforts is underscored by the recent publication of the Healthy Ireland Survey, 2022, which found that 24% of women (and 35% of 15-24 year-olds) have experienced at least one indicator of period poverty; 6% of people report issues with the affordability of wider hygiene products and 51% of women are limited on occasion from participation in daily activities by period symptoms. In addition to period poverty mitigation efforts at local level, implementation of the Women’s Health Action Plan is delivering treatment for period symptoms, through expansion of gynaecology and menopause clinics, more avenues for endometriosis treatment and through the expansion of the free contraception scheme (hormonal contraception can also be used to ameliorate period symptoms).

The Healthy Ireland Programme provides match funding together with the Department of Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth annually to Tusla, which is distributed via the 27 CYPSC. The Healthy Ireland Programme will provide €650,000 to Tusla for distribution for health and well-being activity in 2023.

The Healthy Ireland vision is where everyone can enjoy physical and mental health and well-being to their full potential, where well-being is valued and supported at every level of society and is everyone’s responsibility. In addressing the determinants of health, it is important to acknowledge that the important determinants of health that could effect the change necessary for a substantial improvement in health all lie outside the health sector. In particular, Local Authorities have a central role in the provision of services and supports that are available locally that create the conditions for good health, including: arts and culture, business and economy, community, emergency, environment, finance, heritage and conservation, housing, leisure and recreation, libraries, planning and building, roads and transport and water, all of which have a profound impact on health and well-being. It is for this reason that the Healthy Ireland Programme has prioritised the provision of funding through the local authorities and other local statutory structures.