Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As a State we have, unfortunately, made a virtue - perhaps that is the wrong word - or certainly a strong tradition of devolving essential public services and the State abdicating responsibility for them. That did not start with the Minister. We have a long history of that. We see it in education and all sorts of areas. We see it very strongly in healthcare.

If we are going to take a step away from that, as we should - the State should intervene in places that it is not directly involved in such as childcare - this is an essential part of that process. It is right and proper. The objective should be a publicly funded and run healthcare system. A national maternity hospital should be at the heart of that. The dangers here are obvious.

I note the commitments given by the hospital group yesterday, which I welcome. Let us move forward ten or 15 years. Let us suppose a controversy arises because a woman is denied a termination or tubal ligation, or there is some change in legislation and SVHG refuses to go along with it because there has been a change in the internal politics of that group or whatever. The commitments given ten or 15 years prior will no longer stand. The Government of the day will say there is not much it can do about that, it is afraid the State does not own the site and it cannot intervene or that it has contacted the hospital group to try to see if the matter can be resolved. The strength of the hand of the Government will have been severely weakened by decisions being taken here and now. It is right and proper that at the heart of our public healthcare system is a national maternity hospital that is well funded and publicly owned.

Ar an ábhar sin, tá sé fíorthábhachtach go mbeadh an t-ospidéal seo i seilbh an phobail agus go mbeadh sé ag rith ar an mbunús sin. Níor chóir go mbeadh aon eagla faoi aon bhaol sa todhchaí faoi na polasaithe a bheadh san ospidéal.

I listened with interest to the Minister's interviews over the past few days on the restrictions in maternity hospitals. It appears to me that he is now listening, which I welcome. I welcome in particular the emphasis that he has put on the full duration of labour. As Deputy Cronin just said, the arbitrary decision about how dilated a woman is should not dictate when she gets care. It should only be a start. The Minister and Mr. Paul Reid need to be on top of the hospitals to make sure they are implementing that.

We also need to deal with all of the key appointments, in particular, but not exclusively, for women who are at high risk or are experiencing pregnancy loss. As well as that, after birth is a crucial time for partner support. We should not be talking about this in terms of slots for visitors. Of course there needs to be policies for all of that, but partners are an essential support. They are not visitors. That applies to all appointments as well as after birth. This needs to be just the start. The Minister needs to stay on top of this and I will keep an eye on it. I welcome the fact that he is listening, in particular around the difference between established labour and labour. There is just labour. That message needs to go out loud and clear.

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