Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I recognise that, and Wexford General Hospital is a good example of a hospital where measures had to be brought in because of circumstances that arose. That is not the point I am making, however. The HSE states that restrictions have no longer applied since Covid but that is not the case in some hospitals. They have not gone back to pre-Covid visiting measures. There is a feeling among parents and families that it is almost as though some hospitals do not want visitors coming in at all. The arrival of a newborn is an important stage in someone's life. I know people are allowed one partner in to visit but the immediate family, including children, want to come in to hospital and see the newborn child. I totally get that we put measures in place and that local management has the authority to make decisions based on Covid outbreaks. That happened in Clonmel only recently. That is fine and I have no issue with it but what I am talking about is visiting restrictions that apply when everything is normal. Tipperary University Hospital has not returned to what was normal pre-Covid. I am asking the HSE to intervene to make sure the mothers of newborns get the service they got before Covid.