First, I want to cover the great news today from the Department of the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and the office of the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, regarding support for regional airports. There will be €6.3 million allocated to Shannon Airport at a time when there have been zero flights, which, in itself, causes considerable hassle for regional tourism in the area because it is one of the main ways people come in to visit the west coast. It is great news today. It is positive not only for the airport but for the entire region because so much depends on that. I also welcome the fact that they will be able to use it for flexibility to roll out incentives and charge rebates in consultation with airlines with a view to supporting recovery and growth of connectivity. That is important because we have to get back to where we were at least. We also have to look at the balance between Dublin flights and flights to other regional airports, including Shannon. At present, more than 90% of flights that are coming into Dublin come in and just leave the country. There is such good value to be given to flights coming into other regional airports. It also involves less of a carbon footprint, for example, to land in Shannon Airport. I welcome that great news today of €6.3 million for Shannon Airport, with other regional airports also benefiting.

The second issue I want to raise only came to my attention on Friday. I was talking to an academic about an academic matter in Galway and she ended up almost breaking down in the middle of the conversation over nothing to do with what we were talking about. She is a new mother. She has been breastfeeding her child for the past six months and she has struggled repeatedly with that. On her most recent visit to her GP, her own doctor was not there and a second doctor came in. He told her she was mad, that she should have given that up ages ago and at four months you should give up and get the solids going. I got so mad. My son is 22 since Saturday. We fought for and supported breastfeeding rights back in the day, with La Leche League and other groups. Twenty-one years ago I was at this craic, and to think that a doctor in this day and age can say that to a woman makes me so mad. Not only is breastfeeding best but it can be challenging, which is why one should never discourage a woman from doing it.

Women need all the encouragement in the world. Often they give up because they think they are failing. They are not failing but it is difficult, sometimes, to establish; it took me six weeks. There is a myth that because it is best it is easy, but that is not the case. We need to get the message out that while breastfeeding is best, it can be challenging at the beginning but that if one perseveres, one will succeed. The fact that a GP in this day and age would be in any way discouraging a woman from breastfeeding, as long as she wants to do so, is just appalling. We must nip that in the bud. It is 2021, for God's sake. The main reason the female body of any animal has breasts is to feed her young. I cannot believe that in this day and age we still have qualified people giving such ridiculously bad misinformation. It is important to note that breastfeeding is much cheaper than bottle feeding. It saves money and makes women feel good about themselves because they are doing the right thing for their child. It is also much healthier and much more hygienic. In 2021 we need to put a stop to any myths around breastfeeding and say that not only is it the best thing but it is better for the mother and the child. Everybody should be encouraging mothers to breastfeed. We need to stop throwing money at multinationals and their brands like SMA and Cow & Gate for the gack they are making and pushing on people all over the world. We have to stop that and represent the rest of the world. We are a developed country and we know what is best.