Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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1769. To ask the Minister for Health if there is a timeline for when stakeholder engagement will take place regarding the national breastfeeding strategy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58476/25]

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Last year, the Department of Health formed a breastfeeding steering group to research and develop a new whole of government breastfeeding policy. The Government intends to build on the work of the HSE Breastfeeding in a Healthy Ireland Action Plan through the development of this new policy and remains committed to increasing breastfeeding supports to all mothers and families in Ireland.

Over the last few months, the Department of Health has engaged with health, research, and academic colleagues, and across government to inform how the new strategy will be designed.

The Department has engaged an independent strategy company to oversee the consultation process and stakeholder engagement to inform the strategy design, and this process is expected to take up to eight months. Funding has been allocated to host a large stakeholder event expected to take place by the end of 2025, followed by smaller focus groups planned for early 2026. The outcomes of this event and the focus group discussions will help inform the new national breastfeeding strategy.