3653. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Health the steps her Department is taking to ensure that the concerns of expectant parents and families are being directly considered during the phasing out of private maternity care pathways under the public-only consultant contract; if a specific, dedicated public consultation process will be established to allow members of the public to voice their concerns regarding choice, continuity of care, and maternal health outcomes under these changes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57255/26]

Public Only Consultant Contract (POCC) holders are not permitted to engage in private practice within public hospitals. This position is unequivocal: there are no exemptions, side arrangements or deviations from the terms of the contract. A key objective of the POCC is to support equitable access to high-quality care, including maternity care, based on clinical need and not ability to pay. Consistent implementation across all hospitals is central to that aim.

The Minister expects all hospitals and all consultants to be fully compliant with the terms of the contract. The Board of Governors of the Rotunda has accepted that the arrangements which allowed POCC consultants to undertake private activity in the hospital were wrong. The Board has confirmed that this practice has now ceased and that all POCC consultants are working in compliance with their contract. At the Joint Oireachtas Health Committee on 1 July 2026, the Master of the Rotunda also apologised for and withdrew previous comments suggesting that women and babies received safer care by choosing private care. That clarification is welcome. It is important that women and families can have full confidence that all maternity hospitals provide excellent, high-quality and safe care, whether care is provided publicly or privately. The focus now must be on continuing to deliver the best possible care for all women and babies, while implementing reforms that strengthen the public health service for everyone.

In maternity care, the core issue is not public versus private. It is ensuring that every woman has access to the same standard of safe, continuous, high-quality care as a matter of right. Many women choose private maternity care because they are seeking continuity, reassurance and access to a known clinician. Those are entirely reasonable expectations. The objective of reform is to ensure that those benefits are available to every woman in the public system, not only to those who can afford to pay. While women’s choice is facilitated wherever possible, patient safety is our overall priority in the delivery of services.

This is not about questioning women’s choices, it is about ensuring women never feel they need to pay to access better or more continuous care. The real choice in maternity care is not between public or private access, but rather how each women chooses their care to be managed, in line with their clinical needs and best practice, including regarding the birth setting. A two-tier service can lead to continuity and access being unevenly provided, with practices of some consultants driving demand for private care instead of delivering the same level of high-quality care for all women in the public health service. The aim of POCC is to remove that imbalance and ensure equity of access, experience and outcomes for all women. Public hospitals are predominately funded by the taxpayer, and that funding must deliver the same high standard of care to every patient. The Government has made a significant investment in this reform, and it is essential that the benefits are now fully realised through proper and consistent implementation across all hospitals.