Ms Jennifer Feighan:

They are there and they are very valuable. The lactation consultants are a significant resource and are very beneficial. The gap is around the appropriate weaning age. One has the support at the initial stages but six months in, when it comes time to start weaning one's baby, the knowledge gap kicks in at that point. The resources might not be there for the mother at that point. The public health nurse might not be there. The HSE has a programme, the Nurture programme, which is part-funded by Atlantic Philanthropies. I am sure members have heard of it. Part of that involves community dieticians training other healthcare staff to give evidence-based nutrition advice to support appropriate weaning and to support appropriate menu development and cookery skills for mums in the community, so that when a mother weans her baby, she is weaning him or her on to a good diet. That is really important.

Last year we put in for nine community dieticians in the Estimates, one per CHO to support these programmes. These are the kind of initiatives where €500,000 makes a major difference when it comes to implementing these programmes.