Broadcasting body plans to further restrict advertising of infant formula

Pauline O'Reilly said: “We’d successfully got through with the Online Safety Bill that formula milk would be added in, so we would look at restricting further the advertising of formula milk in Ireland.”

Restrictions around online advertising for infant formula — including for video-sharing and on-demand services — are being progressed, the head of the first Breastfeeding Parliamentary Committee said.

Green Party senator Pauline O'Reilly said this is one of the measures the committee proposed to support infant feeding choices and was accepted in the Online Safety Bill by media minister Catherine Martin.

“We’d successfully got through with the Online Safety Bill that formula milk would be added in, so we would look at restricting further the advertising of formula milk in Ireland,” she said.

“So Coimisiún na Meán is in consultations now with Minister (of health) Donnelly’s staff about having a health-led approach, and looking at restricting this a little bit further. That is something I had pushed for.” 

She added: “We are seeing some change. Ireland is very dominated by formula milk, because we do export powdered milk for use in formula. So we need to be really careful that at the same time as doing that we are actually ensuring that we are providing the support for breastfeeding.” 

Coimisiún na Meán, which replaced the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, said a review identified gaps in Irish legislation.

“On the issue of infant and follow-on formula, the review noted that the rules on infant formula and follow-on formula need to be updated to reflect changes in EU law,” a spokeswoman said.

“Consideration must be given to the provisions in the OSMR Act 2022, which permit Coimisiún na Meán to restrict or prohibit commercial communications for these products.” 

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The commission has responsibility for broadcasting rules and codes.

“Revision of the media codes will address the issues highlighted in the 2022 statutory review, including matters relating to infant and follow-on formula,” she said. “An Coimisiún will also be introducing rules about commercial communications on video-sharing platforms and video on demand, subject to consultation.” 

The cross-party parliamentary committee also recently met Mr Donnelly to discuss further proposals. 

“It’s 15 years since there’s been a comprehensive study on infant feeding,” Ms O'Reilly said. “So we are looking for that piece of work to be done. We are awaiting the minister’s response but he seems amenable, it is fair to say.” 

Midwives

They also raised concerns around shortages of midwives.

“We are looking for a better ratio of midwives to women in hospital, so what we feel is there has been good work in relation to the hiring of lactation consultants but actually what people really need is support from midwives who have a bit of time,” she said.

They also proposed a national campaign telling women about existing breastfeeding supports, including health services and work-related rights.

The parliamentary committee was set up in the wake of worrying research findings by advocacy group Bainne Beatha in October. A survey of 5,412 women indicated that breastfeeding supports are “inadequate and inaccessible”. 

While one in three said support they received in hospitals was “excellent”, the same proportion reported “fair or poor” experiences indicating a lack of consistency nationally.