Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, my neighbour, Gary Toohey, tweeted a picture of himself outside the maternity hospital in Limerick, stating "Hours away from having our first child and there I am waving up at herself from outside the hospital on the street, where do you begin". His partner is Joyce and they are neighbours of mine. This is barbaric. The Taoiseach indicated to me last week this issue would be sorted. We were very much disappointed when it was not. Last week, I tabled a parliamentary question asking the HSE what maternity services were allowing in partners for critical moments during pregnancy. It could not answer me because it did not know. What is even worse is that officials did not go around and ask the maternity services themselves because they could not be bothered. This is barbaric. Once and for all, will the Government please ensure there is consistency in services to allow partners to be together in the delivery of maternity services at critical times?

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