Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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367. To ask the Minister for Health if the maternity unit at Mayo General Hospital is the only one in the Saolta University Healthcare Group without the allocated services of a lactation consultant; his views on whether the services of such consultants are important; and, if so, the reason new mothers in this specific area are being deprived of those services. [21464/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Breastfeeding figures at first Public Health Nurse (PHN) visit and at three months are reported quarterly in the HSE Performance reports. Figures for 2016, listed in the HSE March 2017 Management Data Report, show that 56.8% of babies were reported as breastfeeding at first PHN visit (shortly after discharge from hospital), with 38.8% still breastfeeding at 3 months.

The Breastfeeding in a Healthy Ireland Health Service Breastfeeding Action Plan 2016 – 2021 (HSE, 2016) sets out the priority areas to be addressed over the next 5 years to support more mothers in Ireland to breastfeed and to contribute to increases in breastfeeding rates. Included in its action points is the appointment of Clinical Midwife Specialist Lactation Consultants in all maternity hospitals/units.

In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.