Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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2306.To ask the Minister for Health the number of maternal deaths for each of the past ten years; and the level of investment made to reduce the number of maternal deaths, for each of the past ten years. [32439/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The first part of this question is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

The level of investment made to reduce the number of maternal deaths, is a multifaceted concept. All funding that goes into the health service from staffing, to capital projects, to health promotion programmes, to medication procurement, and so on, aim to maintain and improve the health service. Therefore, it is a difficult thing to quantify the precise funding the Deputy has requested.

The delivery of high quality, safe services is a priority within the Irish healthcare system and to lose a much-loved mother, whether during pregnancy, birth or afterwards, is a devastating event. The safety and quality of the Irish maternity system is extremely important. Since the establishment of the HSE’s National Women and Infant’s Health Programme (NWIHP) in 2017, there has been significant investment and focus on quality and safety in maternity care

Funding of €540,000 was provided in Budget 2022 for the establishment of an Obstetric Event Support Team (OEST) within the HSE’s National Women and Infant Health Programme (NWIHP). The OEST provides objective oversight over a specified list of obstetric clinical incidents occurring within Maternity Networks. It ensures that learning can be applied nationally, through engagement with relevant stakeholders, to lead to safer and improved quality of care for patients and families.

The National Maternity Strategy is moving into its 9th year. A total of €25.65m in new development funding has been invested from 2016-2022. This has enabled the total recruitment of over 500 full-time staff across the country.

New development funding has also been provided to support maternity services through the Women's Health Fund, totaling 5.1 million between 2022 and 2024.