Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 May 2024
258. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Health the action he is taking to promote people's personal health and wellbeing though sport and physical activity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17026/24]
View answerThe Health and Wellbeing Programme in my Department is responsible for coordinating the implementation of Healthy Ireland, our National Framework for Improved Health and Wellbeing 2013-2025, and the subsequent Healthy Ireland Strategic Action Plan, 2021-25.
The promotion of physical activity (PA) for health is a key policy objective of Healthy Ireland. This was evidenced by the publication, in 2016, of Get Ireland Active – the National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP), which contained 60 actions designed to promote participation in PA across the population.
Implementation of the NPAP is jointly led by my Department and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (DTCAGSM), through a cross-sectoral Implementation Group that includes a range of other Government Departments, State agencies and the academic sector. Key initiatives progressed under the NPAP include supports for walking, running, swimming and cycling.
Increasing physical activity levels in children and young people is a priority. The Departments of Health, Education and Sport and their respective agencies are collaborating extensively to promote and assess physical activity and sport in schools. The Department of Health provides support for the Department of Education’s Active School Flag programme through the Healthy Ireland Fund. Both the Departments of Health and Education are supporting Sport Ireland’s Children’s Sport Participation and Physical Activity Study, the latest wave of which was published in August 2023.
Improving physical activity in women and girls has also been identified as a priority area by the Women’s Health Taskforce; the Women’s Health Fund has supported “It national’s My Time”, a national communications programme which provided additional motivational support for physical activity and sport in women over 40, particularly those with caring or family responsibilities and those living in disadvantaged areas.
The Healthy Ireland allocation to Sport Ireland includes supports for programmes for people living with a disability, including the Special Olympics Young Athletes programme, supports for research and the Get Ireland Walking, Get Ireland Swimming, Get Ireland Running and Get Ireland Cycling national programmes.
Healthy Ireland is also supporting the development and piloting of a Physical Activity Pathways in Healthcare Model, in collaboration with the HSE and Sport Ireland. These supports are funding development and co-ordination of programmes to increase access to physical activity for people who are older, frailer, living with a disability or disadvantage, and who otherwise experience more barriers to accessing physical activity, and will include elements of physical activity prescription.
Healthy Ireland also participates in the DTCAGSM Sports Leadership Group, led by the Minister of State for Sport and Physical Education, Thomas Byrne, T.D., which guides the implementation of the National Sports Policy.
A review of the National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP) was published in 2021. The review contained recommendations regarding the future direction of the NPAP. Work on a successor document to the original NPAP, which will chart the development of a policy framework in this area for the foreseeable future, is significantly advanced and will reflect the recommendations of the Review. It is intended that this framework will be published in the coming months.
In addition to the actions being pursued by my Department, population health & wellbeing is also being enhanced by a wide variety of sports measures being supported by DTCAGSM. The roles of sport and physical activity in supporting the health and wellbeing of our society are clear and it is imperative that opportunities are in place to allow all members of society to participate in sport.
This objective is supported by funding in 2024 from that Department of a record €209 million for sport, as compared with €111 million in 2018 at the launch of Ireland’s National Sports Policy. The Government committed to double State investment in sport by 2027 at that time, and these figures show that we are well on track. Sport Ireland is supported by both Departments to continue its support for sporting organisations and the promotion of broader participation in sport and physical activity in Ireland.
