Galway maternity services left in the hands of Oireachtas health committee after PUH Alliance petition
Protection pleas from the Portiuncula Maternity Alliance (PMA) came before the Oireachtas Public Petitions Committee this week, as the group made specific requests to address data inconsistencies and what it says is an ongoing threat to maternity services.
The PMA submitted 15 points aimed at combating the risk of downgraded maternity services at Portiuncula University Hospital (PUH). The group is calling, in particular, for external, independent reviews to ensure “accountability and transparency.”
In its petition, the PMA argued that there is “no medical evidence/medical analysis to justify the decision” to downgrade services. “Without comparative data there is no evidence other units are safer,” it stated, adding that there is “non-conclusive evidence that PUH is an outlier” compared with other maternity hospitals.
The petition also highlighted the inequity facing women who will lose access to the service, stating it will “disproportionally impact rural women,” and claimed that some high-risk women are refusing to attend alternative hospitals.
Three recommendations were put forward by Galway East TD Albert Dolan, who chaired the committee meeting. The first was to refer the petition to the Oireachtas Health Committee for further examination.
The Health Committee had already stated in late December that it was “keeping this matter under consideration.” Deputy Dolan said it therefore made sense to streamline the process by allowing the committee to continue its work.
Additional recommendations included forwarding a recent HSE status update to the PMA, and inviting the group to an in-person meeting with the Health Committee. All recommendations were agreed.
In the public gallery was Galway County Councilor Dr Evelyn Parsons, who has been outspoken on safeguarding maternity services at PUH since before the publication of the Walker Report in 2018.
Also present was Sinn Féin Galway East TD Louis O’Hara, who is not a member of the petitions committee but attended in support. “The main concern is that neither the HSE or the Health Minister have been able to commit to a plan to restore full maternity services for high-risk cases, and what would be required for that to happen,” he said.
Roscommon-Galway TD Martin Daly, who sits on the Health Committee, said he “wasn’t satisfied” with its most recent meeting with the HSE in December. “The HSE West and Northwest approach to this was ham-fisted,” he said. “There was miscommunication and there was poor handling of the situation,” referring specifically to PUH staff and the information given to the wider public.
Mr Daly also raised concerns about the implementation of the Walker Report. After exchanges in the Dáil, he said “the HSE changed their position that Walker had been implemented but hadn’t been sustained.”
Despite concerns about service downgrades, PUH received strong praise following the National Maternity Experience Survey published in December 2025. The hospital recorded the highest response rate nationally and scored above the national average for antenatal care, labour and birth care, postnatal care, infant feeding and home-care supports.
“It’s not a flash in the pan. If you go back to 2020, which was the first survey of its kind, Portiuncula was a top performer there as well. It’s been a consistent good report from the point of view of the patient experience there and that's got to be said,” Cllr Parsons said.
During the December Health Committee meeting, Cllr Parsons said there had been no commitment to reinstating full services, despite Peter Roche telling the Irish Independent that the Health Minister had given such a commitment at the same meeting.
Deputy Roche added that services would remain scaled back until there was “absolute satisfaction” with the recommendations.
In January 2026, PUH also opened a new outpatient maternity facility.
The Health Committee will now take on the PMA petition for review, with further actions to follow.