Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This might go outside the remit of the Committee of Public Accounts, but it is Thursday afternoon. I am also a member of the health committee. We have the maternity strategy and I am aware that Professor Fitzpatrick and many of his colleagues had an input into that. One of the criticisms of the maternity strategy was that it separated obstetrics and gynaecology. It is the separation of having babies and just being a woman, in layman's terms. There are many Cinderellas in politics but gynaecology, as we have seen from the massive waiting lists, is often a Cinderella because women will put up with things where other people would not. In terms of Professor Fitzpatrick's idea of leaving gynaecology in the Coombe and moving births onto the St. James's site, I am concerned that we would have a clinic or a building that might not be fit for purpose. Not being a doctor, is there an issue there in respect of quality? By practising operations and doing procedures one gets better, but if one separates obstetrics and gynaecology does one damage the level of expertise or the quality of care?