David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I support the calls made by Deputy Whitmore. She is right about that interview given by the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, on 21 June on Newstalk. What he did was raise expectations. In fact, those of us in opposition commended and supported the stance he took. It was exactly what campaigners had been calling for, which is that all restrictions would be lifted for the full labour and not what was called active labour, and all the caveats that had previously been attached. Yet, it has not happened. There is no uniformity.

Questions are rightly being asked about who is in charge. We are being told by the Chief Medical Officer, CMO, that there is no clinical medical reason as to why these restrictions should remain in place. We were told by others in the HSE, including the national clinical director, that, again, there is no reason these restrictions should be in place. The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, said he supports an easing of restrictions. He went on national radio and said the restrictions will, by and large, be gone and the emergency situations would be dealt with in a couple of weeks. Yet, none of that has been done. It is the same for prenatal and postnatal appointments. Restrictions are in place in all those areas. Women cannot understand why these restrictions are still in place when everything else is opening up.

The partners of expectant mothers are not visitors. They cannot be seen in the same category as visitors; they are partners. When women go through a pregnancy, they deserve to have their partners with them for all scans and for the full birth. While there may have been some justification for these restrictions in the past, there is no justification now. The Minister, therefore, needs to get his act together, stamp his authority, take charge and deal with this once and for all.

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