Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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389. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the public health obesity Bill committed to in the Programme for Government; the timeline for publication of the draft heads; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26848/24]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for Government “Our Shared Future” published in June 2020 contained a commitment to “Work with key stakeholders to introduce a Public Health Obesity Act, including examining restrictions on promotion and advertising aimed at children”. The policy instrument for obesity in Ireland is 'A Healthy Weight for Ireland,’ the Obesity Policy and Action Plan (OPAP), which was launched in September 2016 as part of the Healthy Ireland Framework.

The OPAP covers a 10-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.? The OPAP includes a suite of prevention measures which were identified by the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2008) as cost-effective interventions, ranging from education and schools-based programmes to reformulation and fiscal policies with the aim of gradually changing Ireland’s obesogenic environment to facilitate consumption of healthier foods and drinks. A mid-term evaluation was conducted by UCC which covered the period 2016 to May 2021 which examined implementation and progress on delivery of the actions under the OPAP.

Separately, in 2022, the Department of Health conducted a Review of the OPAP which provided an update on the status of some of the main deliverables in the Ten Steps suite of population-health approaches of the OPAP. It also aligns the Ten Steps suite of population-health approaches in OPAP with the WHO European Regional Obesity Report 2022 and the policy options the WHO recommends on managing obesity throughout the life course, thus signposting key actions to consider out to 2025. The Review was published in November 2022 and can be found on the Healthy Ireland website at .

There is currently no timeline for the development of a Public Health Obesity Bill. However, in relation to specific legislation relating to promotion and advertising aimed at children in the context of addressing obesity, my colleague, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaelteacht, Sport and Media ("TCAGSM"), brought the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill through the Houses of the Oireachtas and it was signed into law on 10 December 2022. Following its commencement by the Minister, the Online Safety and Media Regulation (OSMR) Act 2022 dissolved the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI).

Coimisiún na Meán was established in March 2023, further to the provisions of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 (“OSMR Act 2022”). The OSMR Act 2022 amended the Broadcasting Act 2009 to establish Coimisiún na Meán and dissolve the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (“BAI”). In addition to undertaking the functions of the BAI as the regulator for broadcasting in Ireland, Coimisiún na Meán is to establish a regulatory framework for online safety, update the regulation of television broadcasting and audiovisual on-demand services, and transpose the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive into Irish law.

Officials from the Department of Health have met with officials from An Coimisiún to discuss implementing codes that would restrict the marketing of high fat, sugar and salt foods and beverages to children, including follow on infant formula and will continue to engage with An Coimisiún going forward.

A significant amount of work has already been progressed at an EU level with regard to the marketing of unhealthy foods to children. Ireland and Portugal have co-led a Work Package on Restricting the marketing of unhealthy foods to children and adolescents under the EU Joint Action “Best ReMaP” (Best practices in Reformulation, Marketing and public Procurement), working with 15 other Member States which completed its work in September 2023.

This includes proposing a revised WHO Nutrient Profiling Model for use throughout Europe in implementing the Audio-Visual Media Services Directive. This model will also be used in the EU Codes of Practice templates, adaptable by Member States, for use with non-broadcast media, including digital media; product placement (including multi-buy options) and sponsorship. As part of this Work Package, a Digital Media Monitoring Framework is being developed for EU-wide use.

The EU Framework for Action is the final deliverable of the Joint Action Best-ReMaP Work Package 6, which was finalized by September 2023. This framework contains all the tools developed by the Work Package. Member States have also recently established National Intersectoral Working Groups, to facilitate the implementation of the food marketing tools developed by the Joint Action Best-ReMaP and the integration of policies into national legislation after the end of the Joint Action.

The introduction of an Irish Sugar-Sweetened Drinks Tax (SSDT) was announced in Budget 2018 and came into effect on the 1st of May in 2018. The aim of the Irish SSD tax is to reduce rates of childhood and adult obesity in Ireland by reducing the consumption of sugar sweetened drinks as a contributor to health and dental deterioration, particularly among young people.

The desired outcomes are twofold: (1) that individuals reduce consumption of sugar sweetened drinks by reducing amount consumed or switching to healthier choices; (2) that industry reformulates products to reduce (not necessarily remove) levels of added sugar in the drinks products. An evaluation of the SSD Tax is in progress and is expected to be completed this year and will reveal the impact of the tax on the consumption of SSDTs and on reformulation of SSDT products.

In summary, this Government is committed to continued development and implementation of policies, programmes and initiatives that will reduce the obesogenic nature of our environment.