James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In the short time I have, I wish to address some inaccuracies. The INMO may have its own figures but we have figures which were given to me last week on the ratio of staff to patients at Portlaoise. It is 1:48, which I acknowledge is far too high. We have a task force on nursing and midwifery which will address this issue in terms of getting the skills mix right and determining safe ratios.

The so-called "leaked report", which was addressed by me in this House a number of months ago in the context of maternity services in the north west and west, has no standing of its own. It will feed into the national review of maternity services and there are no plans to close any maternity unit. I want to make that clear on the floor of the House.

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