Citizenship tourists 'hit maternity services'

NON-NATIONAL women arriving in this country in the latter stages of pregnancy continues to place immense pressures on maternity hospitals, a leading maternity consultant said last night.

Consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Paul Byrne wrote to Micheál Martin in 2002 to alert him to the worsening situation caused by so-called citizenship tourists and their impact on services at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin.

Stressing that his sole motivation was a concern for the health and well being of patients, Mr Byrne said last night that the situation has not changed in the past two years.