It is welcome that the impasse with the Rotunda Hospital has come to an end, and it is important that the principles underlying Sláintecare are upheld. I was concerned, however, by some of the language used by commentators in the debate, with men on social media and in national newspapers using derogatory terms like the "posh push", which is belittling of women and not helpful, especially given the shameful history in this country of women being failed by our reproductive health and maternity care systems. As my colleague Deputy Sherlock pointed out, the national maternity strategy is now ten years old, and almost all of the ambition within it has not been realised: no new midwife-led unit in ten years, less access now to home births, and Domino, the early transfer scheme, not available in every county. To ensure that women have decent choices and a decent maternity care system, we need to see progress on delivering a world-class, midwife-led maternity care model, as envisaged in the maternity strategy. What steps is the Government taking now to ensure that is the case?

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