Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

As I said, it is a question of education. Women are not encouraged to breastfeed by the medical profession. It is a great pity that it is generally not a popular thing to do at present. It is our duty to improve working conditions for breastfeeding mothers. Indeed, I would like to improve working conditions for all mothers. Fathers have a big part to play in this but only female Members are in the House. Where are all the Members who are fathers? Again, it is women who bear the brunt.

I appreciate that the Minister is trying to tackle this problem and he recognises that we must make allowances for women. We have encouraged women back into the workforce in which they are a great asset. They contributed enormously to the development of the Celtic tiger. That said, women give birth and have to look after children, particularly in their early months. Employers and the Government need to recognise that there is a cost in providing for mothers with young babies. We are not going far enough. As in other European countries where breastfeeding is more common, we should also give mothers with young babies more time off work. This is a start but we should do more.