Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Let me give the example of the Southern Health Board. There are ten refugees and 545 asylum seekers in the SHB area alone. There are 564 non-nationals who are not refugees nor asylum seekers. There were, therefore, 1,119 births to non-nationals in SHB hospitals out of 6,000. That is a substantial number. Some of them tend to be complex cases. If we have a system in Ireland that is incentivising that pattern of behaviour then we have to do something in the interests of all concerned. There are real health and safety issues here for the individuals and families concerned. People are taking risks to avail of what is available here, both the citizenship facility and possibly the quality of our obstetric and maternity care. It is only in the context of debates like this that I hear people like Deputy O'Dowd celebrating that fact in Ireland. In the normal course of a debate on health, I get the opposite commentary.

Even though the asylum seeker numbers have fallen, about 60% of girls over 16 arrive pregnant and there has been no significant changes since the recent Supreme Court judgments. While there is a demand for funding, there are limitations to what we can achieve or what we can absorb in this area. We have to be practical. Consultant and midwifery strength cannot be increased overnight.

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