Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed)
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-09
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. I appreciate her party's support for the Government's and the Minister of Health's position on thisbecause a lot was at stake here, not just for maternity services but for the entire edifice that should govern public health and the provision of public health into the future in our acute tertiary system.
The Government took a decision following negotiations in respect of the public-only consultant contract, which is a cornerstone of the Sláintecare framework and policy. Our very clear reading of this was that it was an attempted breach of the fundamental position regarding the public-only consultant. We were very clear from the beginning. The Minister was very clear from the beginning and I was 100% behind her in respect of her position, having been in the last Government with the previous Minister, the former Deputy Donnelly, in negotiating this contract, which was signed off by the representative organisation of the consultants, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, IHCA. People cannot sign contracts and then casually deviate from those contracts.
On the question of safety, in my view, the private model of care in obstetrics and maternity is not sustainable. It has not been sustainable for a long time. The State had to intervene a long time ago - well over 20 years ago - in terms of indemnifying obstetricians and gynaecologists in respect of maternity care, given that the insurance costs and so on were just not sustainable for any individual consultant.
I recall when we built the maternity hospital in Cork, which is actually a very good example. In fact, in Cork, you had a ridiculous situation where if you went to the Bon Secours Hospital, when it was private, and there was a complication, you were sent straight away to the Erinville Hospital, the public hospital, because it was the only hospital that had a neonatal. That was a fairly rudimentary neonatal at the time because I recall having to make decisions around all of that subsequently. When we decided to build a maternity hospital in Cork, the Bon Secours Hospital acknowledged that it would not be able to sustain as a private maternity hospital.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:05+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-09