Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I want to make a general remark. This is the last Stage in the passage of this Bill. It is important to offer additional clarification on the position my colleague Senator Cullinane took in the Seanad. The Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, will be familiar with his arguments and with those I pursued on Committee and Report Stages in this House.

The concerns of many midwives have not been addressed adequately, as I have stated time after time. The Community Midwives Association made it clear that it felt there was too much scope for misuse and misunderstanding under the Bill, as currently worded, and a recognised lack of consensus among all those involved which was far from reassuring. I re-emphasise that at no point did midwives wish to be uninsured and to leave mothers and themselves open to the consequences. Any suggestion to the contrary is without foundation and false.

It is important to bear in mind that the issue at stake is not about whether one is insured or indemnified but about the current wording and its interpretation. The very real fear is that the insurer, the State, will attach such conditions that will make it impossible for midwives to provide the services they provide today. This is not idle speculation but a real concern. Those with whom I have engaged, who represent the profession of midwifery, are not imagining this. It is very real for them and their profession.

I urge the Minister of State, her officials and the Minister for Health to continue dialogue with midwives and, despite the negative aspects of this Bill, to seek to maximise rather than restrict the role of midwives as key providers of care to expectant women. That is a very reasonable position for the accountable elected representatives associated with the Department of Health to take.

Accepting that amendments Nos. 3 and 4 are, in real terms, adding further detail and are specific to a range of various aspects of both the nursing and midwifery professions, I do not object to either of them.

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