asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if he is aware that the average consumption of milk at a half-pint per head constitutes a danger to national health; that experiments have proved that an adequate milk diet for growing children has effected a great increase in height and weight, and in the case of both children and adults an increased resistance to disease; if he is further aware that tuberculosis publicity over-emphasising the prevalence of tuberculosis in cattle, and the danger of drinking milk except from tuberculin-tested cows has created such uneasiness that milk is now regarded not as a complete food but as a potential poison; and, if so, if he will consider safeguarding the health of the people by ensuring that every growing child will receive a quart and every adult a pint of milk daily; and if he will issue a public statement that tuberculosis of the udder in cows is so low that the danger of infection is infinitesimal compared with the real danger of the inadequate consumption of milk, especially among the poorer classes.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Milk Consumption and National Health.
Recognising the great value of milk in human dietary, the Government in recent years provided special grants for the supply of milk. An annual grant of £90,000 is available for the distribution of free milk by local bodies to necessitous children. There is also provision to the extent of about £240,000 for free milk under the food allowances scheme administered by the Department of Industry and Commerce which covers recipients of unemployment assistance with dependents, persons in receipt of widows' and orphans' pensions, old age pensions and pensions for the blind in urban areas. Milk also forms part of the school meals in urban areas, and school meals in the Gaeltacht.
Under the free milk scheme, the daily allowance is generally 1 pint per child, or 1½ pints for two children, or 2 pints for three children: Great value is derived by the children from the milk supplied under this scheme. Under the food allowances scheme, the provision of milk for dependents is at the rate of 3½ pints a week.
As regards the latter part of the question in which reference is made to the danger of drinking milk except from tuberculin-tested cows, I would point out that it is estimated that only a small proportion of cattle, which are infected with tuberculosis, excrete tubercle bacilli with their milk, and it is an offence under the Milk and Dairies Act, 1935, and the Bovine Tuberculosis Order, 1926, to sell such milk. The average risk of infection from such milk is not very great where the milk from an individual cow or small herd is concerned but the risk is greatly increased where the milk of several herds is mixed together. Efficient pasteurisation or sterilisation is necessary to render infected milk safe for human consumption. If milk is not pasteurised it can be rendered absolutely safe by being brought to boiling point and all ordinary milk used for human consumption and as a children's food should be so treated.
In conclusion, I would like to advert to the responsibility of the producer in this matter. It should be the aim of every producer to comply with the requirements of the Milk and Dairies Act, 1935, and regulations thereunder in relation to the production of clean and wholesome milk and to take all reasonable steps to eradicate tuberculosis from his herd.