An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-09-23
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Rónán Mullen (IND), National University of Ireland

The Association of Lactation Consultants in Ireland receives, I gather, €100,000 a year from the HSE. It recently advertised a conference in Galway that would be addressed by an American gentleman, Jacob Engelsman, on the subject of lactation support for gender diverse families. I thought at first it might be about women who, in an attempt to transform into maleness, had compromised their ability to breastfeed any children they had. That would be problematic enough because Mr. Engelsman has been involved in advising mentally unwell women who want to bind their breasts for hours at a time on how they can do that and breastfeed. We are a long way from a child's best interests there. It is actually worse. This gentleman has spoken at conferences on the subject of inducing lactation. In other words, biological males, through some kind of hormonal treatment, would try to produce something akin to breastmilk. The reason for that attempt is to assert their feelings of parenthood. He referenced gender euphoria or the unique experience of it. He cited curiosity, fun or sexual gratification. Brenda Power, in the Daily Mail , asked the obvious question which is whether any parent who prioritises their own feelings and desire for euphoria over a baby's needs is potentially guilty of child abuse.
What worries me is the response of the HSE when asked about this. It said it was in line with equality legislation and inclusion strategies. That is a disgraceful response from the organisation responsible for delivering healthcare in this country. It is an astounding lack of good stewardship. To make matters worse, the Minister for Health did not spot how unacceptable this should be and did not call it out. She is very quick, and often right, to call out problems that arise in the healthcare service. By failing to condemn that and publicly disapprove of a publicly funded organisation having a guest like that speak on a topic like that, the Minister acted as an enabler for highly ideological people in the HSE and the people they support. This is not about children's best interests. It is enabling a form of child abuse. We need to debate on this. The Minister should be called to account for this. I will write to the health committee to ask it to bring in the HSE over this. The response from the HSE and Minister is far from not being not good enough. It is a disgraceful and irresponsible response.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-09-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-23