Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)

On behalf of the Minister for Health, I thank Senator Conway for the opportunity to address the House on the funding of maternity services in the mid-west. I know how passionate he is about the delivery of high-quality services for the people he represents in County Clare and the wider mid-west region.

The National Maternity Strategy 2016-2026 has delivered significant developments in maternity care. Central to the strategy is a service that is woman-centric, provides safe, high-quality integrated team-based care and offers increased choice for women. Co-location of maternity services with adult services ensures mothers have access to a full range of medical and support services should they need them. This is Government policy and reflects international best practice. The new national maternity hospital will be co-located with St. Vincent’s campus at Elm Park. Construction will progress now that the procurement process has concluded.

The co-location of University Maternity Hospital Limerick to the University Hospital Limerick campus at Dooradoyle is intended to be the next maternity co-location project. This is a major capital project subject to the infrastructural guidelines published in December 2023. The proposal is at an early appraisal stage with a strategic assessment report and preliminary business case now under development. This process will consider the best options for delivering the new maternity hospital and how it will integrate with ongoing investment in UHL, which continues at pace. On 13 October 2025, the Minister opened the first 96-bed block at UHL. Since 2020, 236 new beds have been delivered. Enabling works are under way for a second 96-bed block, with a third 16-bed ward planned for 2026.

While the new hospital is under appraisal, the Government is continuing to invest in University Maternity Hospital Limerick. This includes two new neonatal expansions, relocation of clinical staff and the construction of new neonatal spaces.A maternity and newborn clinical management system, a fully electronic health record, went live in UMHL in July, 2025. That is enabling the seamless sharing of maternal and new-born information. From 2021 to 2025, development funding allowed for the addition of 39.7 full-time equivalent staff, including nursing and midwifery specialists, who have been embedded into the maternity strategy model of care.

The Minister for Health and the Government are very much focused on continuing to drive improvements in maternity care services right across the mid-west and look forward to working with the Senator in that regard.