Maternity hospital partner access
Deputy Cairns said restrictions on partners attending maternity hospitals had not been resolved despite earlier assurances. The Tánaiste said he would follow up with the HSE and Minister for Health and reiterated that national guidance supports partner attendance at labour.
On behalf of the Social Democrats, I join other Deputies in thanking all the amazing staff in the Houses.
I continue to hear from distraught expectant mothers and their families about ongoing restrictions in maternity hospitals. When I last raised this issue with the Tánaiste in early April, he said that bringing unvaccinated people into a hospital is a risk. Last week we learned that the HSE will not allow fully vaccinated partners to come in. The goalposts keep shifting. The Tánaiste and the Minister for Health assured me that this issue would be resolved, but it is not. Months have passed and society is reopening but many people must still endure labour and potentially tragic appointments alone. I ask the Tánaiste to help resolve this. Even back in December, the HSE reclassified partners as essential accompanying persons for the purposes of the 20-week scan. Therefore, the HSE could reclassify partners as essential accompanying persons for the entire maternity journey. That could happen immediately. I ask the Tánaiste to help.
Comment on this
Before we rise, I express my thanks to Deputy Cairns for facilitating the Minister, Deputy McEntee, through a pairing arrangement during her maternity leave. I know she is grateful for that, as we are too. Let us ensure in the next Dáil session we put in place some more permanent arrangements. In future I hope many more Cabinet Ministers will give birth while in office. I look forward to seeing the Minister, Deputy McEntee, return in October or November.
I will follow up the issue with the HSE and the Minister for Health. The national guidance is that partners should be able to attend the labour ward and the neonatal intensive care unit, NICU. They should be able to attend important scans such as the 20-week scan. As partners, fathers in the main, increasingly become fully vaccinated over the next few weeks, this really ought not be a problem anymore. Certainly, by the time we return after the summer recess, all partners should be fully vaccinated. Let us try to get this sorted over the next couple of weeks.