Dr. Colm Henry:

There has been a falling birth rate of upwards of 20% in the past 11 years. Our 19 units have a huge spread in activity, from many thousands in the case of some of the Dublin hospitals to the smallest unit, which I think has 800 to 900 births per year. However, we have minimum staffing requirements in each of those units and that includes six consultant obstetricians and midwife-to-birth ratios, which I referenced in response to Deputy Daly's question earlier. There are minimum staffing requirements put in place, and there is a very robust safety mechanism in place, not just those statements and the enhanced reporting we will be putting in place this year but also early alerts through triggered incidents which warrant independent investigation by the network and, as I said, oversight from our own obstetric-events support team on those triggered incidents.