Two Government ministers have expressed surprise that the masters of Dublin's maternity hospitals were now concerned that pressure on their hospitals from non-nationals led to the planned referendum. Eithne Donnellan reports.
The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, said the masters met him and "pleaded" with him to do something. They were not seeking additional resources, he said. The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, also expressed surprise that the masters would have gone to meet the Minister for Justice if a change in legislation or other such change was not on their minds.
A statement issued on behalf of Dr Seán Daly of the Coombe Women's Hospital said: "The calling of a referendum to address the issue of citizenship of babies born in this country is a political one and should be separated from the provision of obstetric services."
A spokeswoman for Dr Daly said the decision to meet the Minister for Justice had been mutually agreed during an earlier meeing with the Department of Health and and the reception and integration agency which deals with arriving immigrants. Mr McDowell outlined the options, but the masters did not express a bias for any option.
Under ethical guidelines doctors must practice "without consideration of religion, nationality, gender, race, politics or social circumstances". The secretary general of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, Mr Finbarr Fitzpatrick, said yesterday that the masters had managerial and clinical responsibilities. If they had safety concerns about hospitals "bursting at the seams", they were obliged to raise them.