A senior HSE manager has warned about Ireland's need to develop "capacity and capability" in maternity services, yet has zero new funding to achieve this.
Angela Fitzgerald, the HSE deputy director whose department oversees acute hospitals, raised the problem in a briefing for new director general Paul Reid.
The document states that there is a "requirement to develop capacity and capability within maternity units" but it claims there is "no new funding provision in 2019".
Dr Rhona Mahony also warned that the waiting list of 30,000 women to see a gynaecologist is having a negative effect on their lives.
The former master of the National Maternity Hospital pointed out that the queue of female patients who need to visit a consultant has escalated by 43 percent in just five years.
In her briefing for Paul Reid, Angela Fitzgerald also pointed out "clinical/corporate risks" in relation to capital infrastructure project, like the new National Children's Hospital.
Concerns have been raised over the impact of the hospital, where costs have skyrocketed, and the planned new National Maternity Hospital (NMH) on "available capital to address critical priorities".
Certain projects like the National Forensic Hospital and new Drogheda facilities are apparently advancing, but the Capital Programme are challenging the HSE.
Despite this, another HSE spokesperson said a National Women and Infants Programme it has been established and there is "dedicated funding and investment for maternity services".
