Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the breaking news that tomorrow's strike in the hospitals has been called off. That will be a great relief for many people who will be seeking treatment tomorrow.

I also thank all the Members who contributed, the Minister of State for her contribution and the mothers and medical professionals who helped with drafting the motion. Deputy Lisa Chambers made the important points that the care must be woman-centred, which it is not at present, and that women must be in control. In many cases they are not. Deputy Rabbitte talked about the ongoing concerns in Portiuncla and referred to a heartbreaking case. She and I have met the couple concerned and I hope the Minister will meet them. Deputies Eugene Murphy, Catherine Martin, Butler, Ó Cuív and Kelly spoke about the lack of implementation. Good intentions, warm words and shiny brochures and launches are great, and we see them continuously, but it is about implementation.

I acknowledge the constructive input from Deputy O'Reilly and her party. Deputy Brady raised the issue of newborn screening. It involves our constituent, Mr. Martin, and I should let Deputy Brady know that I have passed the content from Mr. Martin to some senior consultants who are examining it. I acknowledge Deputy Buckley's incredibly important point about the need for mental health support services throughout the antenatal and postnatal process for mothers and, in some cases, for fathers. I also acknowledge Deputy Shortall's comments on the ongoing governance questions with regard to the national maternity hospital and the fact that we still have not seen it. Nothing has happened. There is a car park, but women cannot give birth in car parks. They give birth in hospitals or other appropriate care settings.

I was very disappointed with the response from the Minister, Deputy Harris. The motion is not politically pointed and does not overtly say that the Government is failing in all these matters. I expressly intended it to be a constructive debate. The Minister, Deputy Harris, spent the first few minutes of his contribution not talking about mothers and babies but about Fianna Fáil. He attacked Fianna Fáil. Fine Gael has been in government for nearly a decade. There comes a point when Fine Gael must take responsibility for things that are happening in this country and not try to defend itself by saying that Fianna Fáil did or did not do something 15, 20 or 25 years ago, whenever it may be. The reality is that when Fine Gael came into power in 2011 the economy might have been in serious trouble but the healthcare system was strong. Access to medicines was high and waiting lists were low. This Government has spent billions of additional money, yet access has never been worse and medical professionals have said they have never previously felt the same level of burnout and stress. That is what Fine Gael has done to healthcare. It must own its failures in healthcare. If it owns and accepts those failures, which are many and profound across this country, perhaps things will begin to improve.

The Minister went on to suggest there were issues of trust with Fianna Fáil and raised the repeal issue. It is a matter of record that the then Simon Harris campaigned in 2011 by writing to every pro-life group in Wicklow saying the groups should vote for him because he was pro-life and he would be the Deputy who would guarantee the eighth amendment is never repealed. While I was voting for repeal over numerous years, Deputy Harris voted against it every time until the last time, when he was handed it by Deputy Enda Kenny and the Labour Party. That is the record. With respect, he can keep his comments about trust to himself.

The Minister basically said in his speech that everything is awesome. The doctors, midwives and mothers do not think that. Are they all lying? Is everybody else lying that there is no problem in maternity care and that this Government has everything under control?

The Minister referenced Sláintecare, the aim of which is to provide equal care for all men, women and children. However, the new national maternity hospital, approved by this Government, will have a private wing. The new children's hospital will have a private internal entrance for the children of wealthy people and private suites. That is not Sláintecare or equality. It is literally physically building inequality into our country. It is a disgrace and it needs to be reversed.

This motion was not meant to be about political point-scoring but about maternity services and what is needed for mums, babies and for our healthcare professionals. What do they need? They need the new hospitals to be built. They need safe staffing levels and modern diagnostics, which we do not have. They also need many more supports for women in mental health and counselling services and in public health programmes for breast-feeding. There is an issue in this country around healthcare discrimination against women. There are now 556,000 men, women and children waiting to see a consultant but I found out recently from the Irish Patients Association that there are 80,000 more women waiting than men. How is this acceptable?

This debate was not meant to be political but was meant to be constructive. Let us work together to implement what we all agree is a good strategy and let us systematically remove the gender based discrimination across the health service in this country. Finally, let us applaud the healthcare professionals and acknowledge the incredible work they are doing in what is becoming an ever more difficult situation. They need our help.

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