Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. It is good to have him here. I thank him for coming in and taking this Commencement matter because I understand the Minister is abroad. That is just the reality for a Minister in Government.

The issue of the maternity hospital in Limerick has been on the health political agenda for some time. I am 51 years of age. I was born in Ennistymon Community Hospital. Maternity services then moved to Ennis and were then centralised in Limerick, but the building in Limerick is not fit for purpose. The most amazing professional consultants and people are working in the building but the building itself is not fit for purpose. I visited a friend of mine there a couple of years ago who had difficulty with her pregnancy. She was in a small room with two others and it was very difficult and distressing. It was during the summer and it was very warm but there was no air conditioning and, despite the heroic efforts of the nursing staff and the medical professionals who worked there, they could not make her any more comfortable.

A proposal has been on the agenda for some time now that the maternity hospital in the mid-west be relocated to a site adjacent to UHL. That is best international medical practice because UHL is a university hospital. Having the maternity hospital on site means it would be beside the emergency department, intensive care and the high-dependency unit. It would be adjacent to all of the necessary supports and interventions that are very timely at times, as the Minister of State knows.

The Minister of State and the Acting Chair will often hear about Limerick and the challenges on national radio, which are acute and serious. Sometimes, because of the media attention that is focused on the emergency department and overcrowding, the maternity hospital can get forgotten about in the narrative. A new maternity hospital is earmarked for the St. Vincent's Hospital site. That is very welcome but just because that maternity hospital has not been built yet does not mean that Limerick and the mid-west should have to wait in line and, essentially, wait their turn. The needs of mothers in Clare, Limerick, Tipperary and Kerry are equally as important as the lives of mothers in the greater Dublin area. That is why I am not satisfied that we still do not have a date to commence the move of the maternity hospital from its present site on the Ennis Road to its site in Dooradoyle. Everybody knows it is the right thing to do, everybody knows the medical reasons for the relocation and everybody knows that what is there at the moment is not fit for purpose. It is unfair on the professionals who are working there and totally unfair on the mothers in the mid-west who are giving birth there.

I hope the Minister of State will bring some clarity to this on behalf of the Minister.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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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.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. With the greatest of respect to the Minister of State, who is just delivering the information, sometimes it is good to get a summation of facts we already know. My big issue here is the fact that it is next in line. Why can it not run in tandem with the one in Elm Park? That is the issue. Obviously, there is some necessary planning work taking place now that should have taken place heretofore. We are where we are, however. The maternity strategy covers the period 2016 to 2026. It is almost 2026 and this still has not happened. That is not the Minister of State's fault, but people will be somewhat disappointed with the reply. This is something that I will maybe address again when I am allowed to submit another Commencement matter in respect of this issue in six months' time. We might get some better news next March or April.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I again thank the Senator for raising this important issue. The Government is committed to implementing the national maternity strategy and, in doing so, improving services for the mid-west region. As the Senator said, this includes the colocation of Limerick's maternity hospital with UHL. That project is at an early stage of planning and will progress through the infrastructural guidelines approval process. When the Minister engages with the Senator - which I am sure will happen on a continual basis - she will be able to provide further updates in respect of that matter.

We are focused on ensuring we continue to provide safe, high-quality maternity services, with increased choices for women. That is at the centre of the continued investment and reform to deliver on this vision.

Malcolm Noonan (Green Party)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit.