Independent TD Carol Nolan has said she has been left \u201cstunned and saddened\u201d by the HSE\u2019s response to concerns she raised surrounding a recent and highly controversial conference organised by the state funded Association of Lactation Consultants in Ireland (ALCI).<\/p>\n
Deputy Nolan was responding to correspondence from the HSE in which it concluded that no specific child protection or welfare concerns arose that required further safeguarding action.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most significant aspect of the HSE\u2019s response is its conclusion that because ALCI is not considered to be providing a relevant service to children under the Children First Act, no child safeguarding concerns arose that warranted further action,\u201d said Deputy Nolan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe many parents will find that reasoning difficult to understand given that the conference in question dealt with matters relating to lactation, infant feeding and support for families,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Deputy Nolan said that the response appears to focus on a narrow statutory definition rather than addressing the broader concerns that were raised.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue was never simply whether a particular legal threshold under the Children First Act had been met. The issue was whether legitimate concerns relating to infant welfare, professional standards and safeguarding had been fully considered.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that an event, that was due to feature a presentation on \u2018male lactation\u2019 from a speaker with a history of sexualising the practice, may have been attended by adult professionals does not alter the reality that its subject matter relates directly to babies, breastfeeding and infant care. That is why so many members of the public were concerned in the first place,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The speaker in question, Jacob\u00a0Engelsman had previously presented on \u201cInducing Lactation for Kinksters at an event named Frolicon, \u201can adult lifestyle and fetish convention held annually in Atlanta, Georgia with substantial programming around kink, BDSM, sexuality, polyamory, LGBTQ+ relationships and alternative sexual\/family cultures.\u201d<\/p>\n
His book, Lactation for the Rest of Us, states: \u201cAs to the question of why they would want to, it seems reasonable to believe that cis men want to lactate for the same reasons as anyone else. Which is to say, usually to feed and bond with their baby and to a lesser extent for curiosity, fun, or sexual gratification\u201d.<\/p>\n
Deputy Nolan also said that the HSE\u2019s letter provides little detail as to how it reached its conclusions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe HSE states that it considered the information available and identified no specific child protection or welfare concern requiring further action. However, the response does not explain what evidence was considered, what assessment was undertaken or what factors informed that conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Offaly TD said that safeguarding should not be viewed solely through the lens of statutory definitions.<\/p>\n
\u201cSafeguarding is about more than determining whether an organisation falls within a particular legal category. It is about ensuring that the welfare of children remains paramount and that public confidence in our healthcare institutions is maintained.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people will remain concerned that the very obvious issues which gave rise to such significant public controversy have not been adequately addressed. In fact, it is now crystal clear that the threshold for meeting the standard of a child safeguarding concern needs to be radically revised.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deputy Nolan said she will continue to seek further clarity on the basis for the HSE\u2019s determination.<\/p>\n
The HSE said that \u201cALCI is an independent organisation and is responsible for its own operational and programme\u00a0decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the HSE provides limited grant funding to ALCI, responsibility for conference\u00a0planning and delivery rests with the organisation itself. Speakers are agreed by ALCI Council in\u00a0line with their international governing body the IBLCE and its approval processes,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Independent TD Carol Nolan has said she has been left \u201cstunned and saddened\u201d by the HSE\u2019s response to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631880,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[268154,25257,72,2120,61,60,268155],"class_list":["post-631879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-alci","tag-breastfeeding","tag-business","tag-hse","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-male-lactation-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}