Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I had a sense of déjà vuwhen listening to the Minister of State's response. We have been here before listening to a communication from the Department of Health setting out what the restrictions or policy should be, when we know the reality on the ground is quite different. Based on the stories women have told me or communicated to others and the Better Maternity Care campaign, we know the reality is different from what the Minister of State has set out. I ask that the clinical lead within the HSE for women's healthcare and Dr. Colm Henry now engage both with the Department of Health and those advocating on women's behalf on the ground to ensure, first, that what the Minister of State has set out is being implemented and, second, that there is further progress in lifting those restrictions. There is an issue as to whether the Department can stand over the guidance that has been issued.I say that because what I have heard on the ground, compared with what the Minister of State has relayed here from the Department, is very different from what happens for a number of women in certain hospitals.