Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies for raising the issue and affording me once again the opportunity to extend my sympathies to the families involved. I know this is a very difficult time for them, but I have been advised that the HSE is in contact with them and they will be offered the necessary supports.

While I am of course very concerned to learn of the events in Portiuncula Hospital, I take some reassurance from the fact that a quality and risk management process highlighted a potential problem and the Saolta University Health Care Group acted promptly to review the situation. Protective measures were very swiftly implemented to provide patient safety assurance and an intensive ongoing monitoring process has been put in place.

An external review of practices and processes will now be commissioned to ensure the ongoing safety of maternity services at Portiuncula Hospital. The review will incorporate a more detailed review of the individual cases.

I have no desire to add to the concerns of any woman who may be expecting a baby and I urge others not to do so. I thank the Deputies for their helpful comments in this respect. I believe it is very important to reassure women, and their families, that maternal and perinatal health statistics indicate that Ireland continues to be a safe country for a woman to give birth in, and our safety record compares favourably with other developed countries. The European health consumer index published this morning, which was critical of some aspects of our health service, pointed out that when it comes to perinatal deaths Ireland is in the best and safest group. I share the view of Deputies that we must seek to improve the services we provide, and in this regard a number of initiatives have recently been implemented or are being developed.

The Department, in conjunction with the HSE, is working on the development of a new maternity strategy. Developing the strategy will help us identify how we can improve the quality and safety of care provided to pregnant women and their babies. We want to ensure that women are provided with the right care, in the right setting, by the right staff, at the right time.

I note the launch last November of the Irish maternity early warning system, IMEWS. This national clinical guideline will assist in the early identification of deterioration and ongoing monitoring of a woman's condition. This development makes Ireland one of the first countries in the world to introduce a national maternity early warning system.

A sum of €2 million in additional funding has been provided in the national service plan for 2015 to address current pressures in maternity services through the recruitment of additional obstetricians, midwives and other front-line staff. In this context it is important to note that while of course we would like to have even more staff, we have more consultant obstetricians and substantially more midwives than ever before at a time when birthrates are decreasing. A new national maternity office will be established within the HSE acute hospitals division in 2015, and a national review and evaluation of maternity services will be undertaken.

I reassure women and their families that Ireland is and remains a safe place in which to give birth. While perinatal and maternal deaths in Ireland are few, I know this is of no consolation to those families who have suffered a loss. I assure them that we will seek to continue to increase the safety and quality of services provided to mothers and their babies in our national maternity service.

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