150 women turned away from private care at National Maternity Hospital
Hannah Kate Costello
An estimated 150 women have been turned away from private care by consultants at the National Maternity Hospital (NMH) over the last six weeks, as private maternity services are being removed from Irish public hospitals.
It follows the introduction of public-only contracts for consultants, which prohibit them from providing private care within public hospitals. Signing the new contract was voluntary for consultants on older public-private contracts, but mandatory for younger staff who have qualified since 2023.
Declan Keane, clinical director and former master at the NMH told Newstalk: "It is a direct reflection of what is happening now with the public-only contract. We have less consultants who are able to offer private obstetrics, and for that reason consultants are unfortunately having to turn patients away. It's not a hospital policy. It's because there are not enough consultants that are still offering or have the ability to offer private obstetrics."
This comes as costs at the new National Maternity Hospital in St Vincent’s have soared to nearly €150 million in 2025 before construction has even begun, with costs estimated to reach close to €2 billion. The new facility will replace the National Maternity Hospital on Holles Street and is due to be completed in 2029.
It follows a 2008 report on maternity services in Dublin which deemed Holles Street "not fit for purpose" because of the age of the building and the lack of expansion opportunities.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has also said that medical advice over the past number of years has indicated that maternity hospitals should be co-located with tertiary hospitals, such as St Vincent's, in order to improve outcomes for mothers and infants.
Currently, the only hospitals in Ireland offering private maternity care include the Coombe Hospital, National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street, Rotunda Hospital (all of which are located in Dublin) and Kingsbridge Private Hospital (which has three locations in Northern Ireland).
