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

Like Deputy Cairns, I attended the online meeting with the 200 or so women who had given birth or been pregnant during Covid. It was called "The Real Rotunda" because, frankly, the television programme has rubbed salt into wounds. In an outrageous situation, camera crews were inside with the woman giving birth while her partner was outside in the car. The women's stories were heartbreaking. There has been a great deal of pain and hardship.

The Tánaiste has stated that the Government has given this matter considerable attention, and perhaps it has, but for three or four months that comprised saying that the problem had already been solved until the Government moved on to saying it could not do much about the situation. I do not accept that. What I am asking the Tánaiste to commit to is for the Government to set a policy objective that we need to return to pre-pandemic levels of access for partners. I am not referring to everyone or dozens of people, but to the one person who is not a visitor but an essential support. By all means, work with the hospitals and maternity units and identify safeguards to make doing this possible. Until the Government sets an objective of pre-pandemic access levels for partners, with safeguards, nothing will change soon. That needs to be the commitment from the Tánaiste and the Minister for Health.

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