Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. He and many other Deputies are committed to the issue, as are the many city and county councils around the country that have debated it and endorsed the sentiment of having a mandatory and automatic inquest.

Will the Minister confirm that all maternity units are identifying all of their maternity deaths in their annual reports? Are national statistics being compiled on maternity deaths? A maternity death in a hospital is taken seriously by clinicians. They see it as a fundamental disaster and hospitals run internal investigations when there are maternity deaths, but we need openness, transparency and accountability when a maternity death occurs.

Will the Minister give a date for the legislation's publication and commit to introducing it in the Dáil at the earliest opportunity in the autumn?

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