Outside this building shortly, thousands of women and their partners will be protesting the failure to resolve the harmful maternity hospital restrictions. We are now almost 20 months into the pandemic yet women are labouring alone and seeing their partners leave after a mere hour spent with their newborn child.

The demand of the campaigners is to return to pre-Covid circumstances for one essential partner. This is in no way unworkable. The fact is that the HSE and the Minister for Health have not pursued this as an objective; they have merely paid lip service to it. The reality is that it is within the Minister's gift to set this as a destination and to make sure that the objective is to return to the pre-Covid restrictions. He has not done so to date. Will he do so? Will the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage ask him to do so, and join with the women and their partners who are outside? They should not have to be there.

I have met many of the women to whom the Deputy refers. I reject, though, that the Minister for Health has only paid lip service to this. We do not have to play politics with every issue.

That is not what this is about.

The Government has said publicly that we believe maternity hospitals should have open access, as much as possible, for partners. I ask maternity hospitals again today to facilitate that access. The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, has done so and the Taoiseach has said it. Let us, therefore, be honest with people first.

Who is in charge here?

The Minister without interruption, please.

Decisions have been reviewed at hospital level and by clinicians also. The Deputy, as a former spokesperson on health, may have an understanding of that also.

The Minister cannot have it both ways.

We want to ensure-----

He cannot say he supports it and then say something different.

The Minister without interruption.

I am just answering the Deputy's question if that is okay. It is an important question and it is a very important issue that she has raised.

The Minister's time is up.

I will bring back the Deputy's views. I know women are there today, and I fully understand what they are asking for and what they should have. They should have access for their partners to the maternity hospital. The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, has made that clear too. I very much take on board the issue the Deputy has raised, however.

I am going to give the Minister another go at this question. As the Minister will be aware, the march for maternity is being led by Linda Kelly, who is somebody I know really well. It is desperate that they have to do this. I have been raising this issue. I think I was first to raise it well over a year ago when a good friend told me about how she got very bad news on her own and then had to drive home from the hospital. That hospital still has not pushed back all the restrictions.

I have a very simple question for the Minister. I am not saying this for political reasons but who is in charge? How can it be that these restrictions are not unilaterally lifted, and that in some locations, they are still in place? It is barbaric. The Minister for Health must ensure that these restrictions are lifted. The date of 22 October is literally not acceptable.

I thank the Deputy; the point is made.

It never was but it is not acceptable to the point of being ridiculous.

I assure Deputy Kelly that the Government understands this. It is a very serious issue for women and their partners. The latest guidance was published on 3 September with an implementation date of 13 September, and that clearly sets out the controls and access for partners as well. I know the Minister for Health appeared before the Joint Committee on Health this morning to deal with other matters. I will certainly raise this matter directly with him.

The Deputy will also know that clinicians at a local hospital level will make decisions they believe is appropriate for them, many of which, I will be honest, I do not agree with. I have met with and listened to women who have been in this situation of having partners waiting in cars for hours and coming in for a half an hour or an hour. That is not something that I think is right. It is not right and no one can stand over that. I again ask those hospitals that have restrictions in place now to remove them and allow unfettered access.