Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to remind the Minister that long before there was a VAT regime, women in Dublin maternity hospitals who were either pregnant or post-partum were universally given a glass of Guinness. Why? It was because there was deemed to be iron in the Guinness. I am unsure whether there was.

The Revenue is simply not taking account of the changes taking place at the moment. From a commercial point of view, many of the health food shops or health shops in local district centres have become important sources of health information for people. People in the traditional medical professions may not always care for that - that is their prerogative and I can understand that. Nevertheless, the fact is that our diets have changed out of all recognition to what they once were. Whether we have a person who is in training for something or someone recovering from something, food supplements are extensively used for periods. Also, in many small and medium-sized towns and smaller district shopping centres these businesses have become important anchor tenants in the retail offering. It is far better that a customer has an experienced careful person in a health food shop. If a customer is coming in with an ailment, the experienced person can offer something but also advise that the customer should go to the doctor.

I agree with Deputy Naughten's comment that this has changed a great deal. More people are becoming vegetarian and vegan. In fact the advice now generally is that if a person is vegan or ultra-vegan, he or she may definitely need to supplement. This applies especially where children are being brought up in a vegan family. What if a woman is hoping to be pregnant? There is advice about taking folic acid and so on. That is standard advice. The Minister might, with profit to his colleague, the Minister for Health, reconsider this.

Perhaps it is a placebo effect - I am not going to say - but for many people the contact with the health food shop and making regular visits there might be far better than haunting a GP's surgery with ailments that the GP might not be able to address.