Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to hear the acknowledgement that the WHO international code of marketing on breast-milk substitutes has not been fully implemented by Ireland. However, this was adopted in 1981 by the World Health Assembly and more than 40 years later the WHA is now attempting to update it to include digital marketing as well. That is simply what this is about. The fact that Ireland has not fully implemented the code from 1981 is shocking. Is it any wonder that we have such low rates of breast-feeding in Ireland? We need to get moving on this. I fully appreciate what the Minister of State says. It is good news that Ireland will consider co-sponsorship of the code, but we must then implement it once it is adopted rather than let it sit on a shelf, which is what seems to have happened with the original code from 1981.