6. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline the current policy governing the production and sale of raw milk in Ireland; whether his Department is considering any changes to the regulatory framework relating to its sale to consumers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52569/26]

Sentiment score: 0.01

On my way into the Dáil today, I walked into my local shop and I could buy an apple-flavoured vape. I could inhale it. I could also buy 20 cigarettes. I cannot, however, go in and buy raw milk easily. I know I am out of my depth as a Dublin TD asking this question, but why is it not possible to get raw milk in a Dublin shop? Why do my constituents sometimes have to travel to the North to get raw milk when adults should be able to make decisions on what we want to consume? I understand that the Minister is going to give me a logical answer about the dangers, but if there is a healthy herd, has the Minister looked at allowing farmers to sell raw milk?

Sentiment score: 0.11

My granny drank raw milk and she lived to 98. We need to look into alternative ways to have locally sourced food. In that regard, I will point to what is happening at EU level and how it ties into this. Brussels is trying to harmonise the upper limits of food supplements such that parents or adults should be allowed to decide what they have. Individual needs are, as they say, individual. If vitamin D is harmonised, that is unfair to stores in Ireland because someone in the south of Spain will not need as much additional vitamin D as we do. I ask that the Department speak to health and shop staff and nutritional therapists who are preventing people from getting sick. This is the same thing as raw milk. We should regulate the choice of a trusted national product rather than regulate for safety, and let the people decide.

Sentiment score: 0.11

I appreciate that. I look forward to having some tartare and raw milk with the Minister some day. A lot of people these days are getting very sick and very obese. We allow multinationals to come here and sell us cans of carbonated drinks with 40 g of sugar but we do not allow someone to get a glass of raw milk. There is something fundamentally wrong in that sense. I am very grateful for Irish food standards. They are world renowned. I had not known about the increase in value from €10 billion to €20 billion, which the Minister mentioned earlier. There are not many farms in my constituency. The only fields we have are GAA pitches. On the supplements issue, the EU is trying to reduce the maximum levels of vitamin B6 from 25 mg a day to 12 mg and hold vitamin D at 100 µg per day. This is the same regulatory instinct. The Department should listen to healthcare officials who are worried about not being able to provide these vitamins to people in Ireland who need them at a high level.

Sentiment score: 0.08