Written answers

Monday, 8 September 2025

Department of Health

Hospital Investigations

Photo of Martin DalyMartin Daly (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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2120. To ask the Minister for Health whether Galway University Hospital’s maternity unit has undergone an independent review of its clinical outcomes, safety standards and capacity given its expanded role in managing higher risk cases referred from Portiuncula University Hospital. [44770/25]

Photo of Martin DalyMartin Daly (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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2129. To ask the Minister for Health in view of the fact that Portiuncula university hospital serves a wide geographic area including Westmeath, Offaly, East Galway, North Clare, South Mayo and Roscommon, and in light of the criteria now being applied to classify certain pregnancies as high risk, has her Department assessed whether Galway university hospital is geographically suitable to accommodate these cases; and if not, does she envisage that care for such patients will be provided in Dublin maternity hospitals. [44779/25]

Photo of Martin DalyMartin Daly (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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2130. To ask the Minister for Health in view of the recommendations made in both the Walker and Coulter Smith reports on Portiuncula maternity services and given the hospital’s geographical importance, whether she will commit to providing the necessary resources to enable the restoration of full maternity services at Portiuncula university hospital. [44780/25]

Photo of Martin DalyMartin Daly (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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2133. To ask the Minister for Health further to the findings of the Coulter Smith review group into Portiuncula university hospital’s maternity services, whether she will commit to commissioning a national review of maternity services provided in smaller hospitals across the State, given the report’s conclusion that similar inherent risks may exist in other units of comparable size. [44783/25]

Photo of Jennifer Carroll MacNeillJennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 2120, 2129, 2130 and 2133 together.

The safety and quality of our maternity services are of critical importance to the women and families who use them, as well as to this Government.

Portiuncula University Hospital (PUH) plays a vital role in delivering high-quality healthcare services to the population of East Galway and surrounding counties. In recent years, the hospital has seen significant investment, including:

  • A 53% increase in budget between 2020 and 2025.
  • A 27% increase in staffing over the same period.
Key developments include investment in maternity services;
  • The Maternity Unit’s staffing profile is in line with national targets and comparable units. Total staffing at PUH increased from 1,095 in Q1 2025 to 1,102 in Q2 2025.
  • Approval for 6 WTE Consultant Obstetricians & Gynaecologists, up from 5 in 2022 and 3 in 2018.
  • Since 2018, the National Maternity Strategy has funded 11.9 additional WTE staff, including 2 Advanced Midwife Practitioners and 5.4 midwife managers.
  • An additional 3 WTE positions have been funded through the Women’s Health Taskforce and gynaecology/termination of pregnancy funding streams.
  • Funding is now in place for 75 WTE midwives.
A plan is also in development to create a Level 4 campus at Galway University Hospital, focusing on several key developments, including improvements to the maternity unit.

There are already well-established pathways for the transfer of complex or high-risk pregnancies within the regional maternity network in the HSE West North West Region. Following the recent publication of the summary report into the care of babies at PUH, the on site implementation team will oversee the transfer of care for a broader group of higher-risk pregnancies to University Hospital Galway (UHG) or to another hospital of the woman’s choice. I fully appreciate that the changes announced to services for higher-risk pregnancies may be distressing. However, the safety and quality of maternity services remain paramount - for women and families, for the Government, and for me as Minister for Health.

Consideration for the future direction of maternity service development will require an extensive evidence base, of which a review of the implementation of the current National Maternity Strategy will form part. The Programme for Government commits to developing a successor to the existing National Maternity Strategy 2016-2026. The work to develop the successor to the existing strategy will include a review of the current strategy and any wider policy issues arising from the PUH reviews and their recommendations.

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