Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak about this important topic. I commend my colleagues, Deputies Louise O'Reilly, Mary Lou McDonald and Kathleen Funchion, for their hard work in campaigning on this issue. The figures speak for themselves. Ireland has the lowest number of consultant obstetricians per 100,000 women in the OECD. Three Dublin maternity hospitals are operating with a 17% deficit in the numbers of staff required to run their services. Most of the 19 maternity units in the country do not provide essential screening owing to the lack of specialised staff. The women of Ireland deserve better than what they have been receiving from the Government. The national maternity strategy must be implemented fully and resourced. The Government must work to retain medical staff and provide the specialist service needed across the State. The National Maternity Hospital must be built without delay and must be independent of all considerations, other than providing the best possible health care for pregnant women and their babies.

As my party's spokesperson on education, I must make the point that the proposal to establish the new National Maternity Hospital in the ownership of a religious body is very concerning. Recent reports show that various religious bodies owe the State hundreds of millions of euro in respect of the redress scheme for the survivors of abuse in State institutions, including schools. In the immediate aftermath of these revelations the prospect of the National Maternity Hospital being gifted to a religious order has rightly outraged citizens across the State. Anything other than complete independence for the new hospital is unacceptable. The Government must get its act together and ensure the best possible care is provided for pregnant women and new mothers. That must happen now.

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