Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The initial part of this motion deals with the lack of obstetricians, midwives and other specialists within our maternity care sector. Those of us who serve in the health committees have discussed this at length. If one looks at Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, levels with regard to the number of clinicians across this area, we are way down, and it is an area of real concern and we need to deal with it. We are not meeting the averages across the OECD or indeed across Europe. We need to put a plan in place for it. I support that component of the motion as well. It is critical when it comes to the future of our health care services.

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