Hildegarde Naughton (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leader for agreeing to observe that minute’s silence. It is significant to mark our solidarity with women experiencing domestic violence.

In recent years we have heard that Ireland is one of the safest countries in which to have a baby. A new report from the United Nations Population Fund demonstrates that this is untrue. It highlights 30 countries with a lower maternal mortality rate than Ireland and 25 European countries that have a lower rate than Ireland. Our nearest neighbour, the United Kingdom, scores slightly better than us. We score relatively highly in the numbers of teenage pregnancies at 14 per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 19 years. There are only four other European countries with a higher rate. We are out of step with our European neighbours on those two metrics. Will the Leader invite the Minister for Health to come into the House to debate this issue soon?