James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I accept the point about the unhappiness of the Community Midwives Association. However, amendment No. 25 sought to remove the provision that a registered midwife must have adequate clinical indemnity insurance. Since the correspondence on this section began, the association has had several meetings with the Department during which it made the suggestion its members would be insured attending any childbirth. I do not believe this is appropriate in cases where the birth would more properly take place in a hospital because it was identified as high-risk.

After the passage of the Bill I will be prepared to continue to engage with the Community Midwives Association. The Health Service Executive has established a national steering committee of home births to review the implications of the memorandum of understanding between the HSE and self-employed community midwives on the provision of a safe, evidence-based home-birth delivery service for low-risk healthy women. The committee consists of representatives from a wide range of stakeholders along with the Department of Health. The committee's inclusive nature will facilitate discussion around the key areas of concern and will inform future guidelines and developments.

We support home deliveries when they are safe, along with the Community Midwives Association. I accept the association's concerns but the Bill must pass as drafted. I am happy to continue to discuss the association's concerns.

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