Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Last Monday the Minister for Health said restrictions on visits by partners to maternity units had been lifted and that all maternity units would be following the same guidelines. Last Wednesday, the Joint Committee on Health was told by the HSE chief executive, Mr. Paul Reid, that the HSE could not direct individual hospitals on restriction and guidelines because that was a matter for local hospitals. I have been dealing with parents across Galway who are very disturbed that each hospital can define for itself what being in labour means, so in some, it is 4 cm dilation. I do not understand why a public service that the State is paying for cannot roll-out the same guidelines across all our maternity hospitals. There is no difference between a woman, a baby and a partner in the west and a woman, a baby and a partner in Dublin. We need to have equality across the island. Will the Minister for Health ask the HSE how, with the funding the State is providing, we can insure equality of care across the island, particularly in relation to maternity services. It is simply not good enough that we went out with an announcement that the restrictions were lifted and two days later we found out that was not the case.

I met with the College of General Practitioners last week. I understand that while courses are being put on on women's healthcare, the State is not providing any funding whatsoever for those. I spoke in the House some weeks ago on the menopause and a debate that was taking place across the airwaves. It is our job as public representatives to bring that into the Oireachtas and into the political sphere and to exert pressure to ensure that women get everything they need. We need to ensure that we are adequately resourcing GPs and those who are providing their training because every woman who goes into every practice needs to be sure they are getting the same information.