Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter, which is impacting worried parents all over the country. In the past decade and particularly since the Covid pandemic, the price of infant formula has shot up. The price for an 800 g can in some of the main supermarkets varies between €15 and €25. A baby may need up to ten cans of formula a month, which ends up costing the equivalent of 18% to 20% of the monthly State maternity benefit or 143% of the monthly child benefit. We have a responsibility to protect new parents from this type of price gouging, which is far above national inflation rates. The consumer price index for baby food increased by 7% in the 12 months up to December 2023, which is well above the national rise across other goods. This is not just happening in Ireland but also in the UK. I have head of cases where the cost of infant formula has increased by between 30% and 50%.

Of the baby formula brands available, there are six that manufacture in Ireland. Generally, however, only Nestlé and Danone are commonplace named brands on supermarket shelves here. The monopolisation of the baby formula market is playing a direct role in profiteering and the exploitation of new parents. We need to protect parents and ensure babies throughout the country have a stable and affordable source of nutrition. Ireland is a net exporter of baby formula and we subsidise its manufacture through Enterprise Ireland. Since 2014, €13.2 million has been paid to six formula companies through Enterprise Ireland. In theory, that should be cutting the cost of production and reducing prices for Irish consumers. Instead, vulnerable babies are at risk of hunger and worried parents are forgoing their own needs in order to feed their child. In some supermarkets, formula is security-tagged because it is among the most shoplifted items. In the UK, the competition regulator is investigating the baby formula market, with a focus on the disproportionate price increases and the lack of generic brand options. I am writing today to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, to ask it to investigate the situation in the market in Ireland.

There are three actions the Government can take to address this issue.First, we have the ability to employ sections 61 and 62 of the Consumer Protection Act, which allow for the setting of price caps on specific goods to protect new parents and children. I have checked this, and according to European Union law, we can allow supermarket vouchers to be applied to stage one infant formula. Infant formula is currently classed, with alcohol and cigarettes, as a non-essential good, which is not covered by a voucher system. It is stigmatising and helps absolutely nobody to treat formula in this way. The formula system is not specific to what goods people choose, so the marketing of formula does not impact on the WHO code. We should provide formula directly to low-income parents who want to formula feed. The UK has the healthy start scheme, which we do not, to help any parents who require infant formula. Second, we need to treat formula as an essential good and ensure there is a low-cost generic formula option available to all parents. A failure to do this and actually tackle it expressly permits multinational companies that produce in Ireland and that benefit from subsidisation by Irish taxpayers to exploit children and parents. Investigating the market, preventing monopolisation, price capping formula, applying vouchers to it and allowing a low-cost generic option to be provided to parents and children is essential to ensure that all children, regardless of how they are fed, receive essential nutrition.