TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has told the Dáil he did not know that public-only consultants in a number of maternity hospitals have been receiving gifts to carry out private care.

During Leaders’ Questions this afternoon in the Dáil, Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan revealed that the practice is also happening in Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH).

It comes after the Irish Independent reported over the weekend that private consultants at the Rotunda Hospital have been giving their public maternity care colleagues “gifts” of up to €1,500 for caring for their patients who give birth on weekends.

O’Callaghan said whistleblowers had informed Social Democrats healthspokesperson Pádraig Rice about the practice in CUMH.

“It takes place at weekends because of the way the Rotunda and CUMH are operating their rosters. They have just one roster, while other hospitals are operating two, one for public patients and one for private patients,” O’Callaghan said. 

The Social Democrats TD asked if Revenue has started an investigation into the “gifts” given to the consultants and claimed no tax has been paid on them. 

He said whistleblowers also reached out to Rice about issues in University Hospital Galway, where he said:

“The hospital has a deal in place to do lab work for a private hospital, and consultants on public-only contracts are being asked by management at the hospital to do lab work for private patients.”

O’Callaghan said this is leading to big delays in processing lab samples for public patients, including public patients with cancer, and has resulted in the hospital having to outsource some samples to commercially run labs. 

In response, the Taoiseach said he was not aware of the gift issue. 

“It is an imperative that the public only consultant contract is implemented, and that it works as it is supposed to across the entire health service,” Martin said. 

He added that Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill is focused on extending consultant hours for patients, particularly over weekends. 

This latest controversy comes after weeks of focus on maternity care in Dublin’s Rotunda hospital after it emerged that consultants on public-only contracts have been providing private care, which the government has maintained is in breach of their contracts.