Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Perhaps that is the reason.

It obviously had some beneficial affect on my health in the long term, thankfully, and it will continue. Fewer than 50% of mothers in Ireland breast feed in the immediate days after birth. In the UK, which is our nearest comparator, the average is almost 80%. Anything that can be done by the Minister, as a woman and as head of a Department which deals with a huge cohort of young married women, to actively assist those bodies trying to encourage breast feeding is welcome. I do not know the reason so few women breast feed. Perhaps it is a cultural thing. I do not know the reason Ireland, which one would imagine to be a leader in this field, is not so. Anything that can be done in this regard by the hospitals or the Minister's Department is to be welcomed. I applaud the Minister for raising the issue.