The master of the Rotunda, Dr Michael Geary, has said that the number of non-national women presenting to the hospital in the later stages of pregnancy had fallen to almost zero in the wake of last year's citizenship referendum.
Dr Geary also said the number of asylum-seekers giving birth at the hospital had halved in recent years.
Dr Geary and the masters of the Coombe and National Maternity Hospital became caught up in the debate on the referendum, after submissions they made to the Government about late pregnancies were cited by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell as one of the main reasons for holding the referendum.
Figures were produced during the debate which showed that 314 women turned up at the Rotunda in labour in 2002, while 249 women, or 13 per cent of all non-Irish women giving birth in the hospital, arrived within 10 days of labour.
Dr Geary said yesterday that this "has more or less stopped. There's still a few but very very little in comparison."
He said that in highlighting the issue previously, his sole concern was the health of women and their unborn babies. "That was the one point I was kept trying to make. I wasn't interested in where they're coming from. I was more conscious of the safety issue and the risks of travelling late in pregnancy."
He said there continued to be a significant proportion of non-national mothers giving birth in the hospital, but they were resident and presenting within 12 weeks of pregnancy.