Debate contribution: Daisy Hill Hospital: Inpatient Maternity Services
Debate contribution by Mr Robbie Butler on .
- MLA
- Mr Robbie Butler
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 21 September 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Ministerial Statement
- Heading
- Daisy Hill Hospital: Inpatient Maternity Services
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5742433
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Member for those multiple questions. You are being lenient today, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank Mrs Dillon for her kind words in welcoming me to my role. There is not a lot that I disagree with there, but I remember that we were not here in 2018; in fact, from 2018 until 2023, we lost five years in this place. We all need to take cognisance of the fact that, when this place is not working and there is no ministerial leadership, things suffer and the Departments do the bare minimum. We need to put things in context.
I accept that we have lost years, but that was not down to the Ulster Unionist Party or its Health Ministers. I will commit to providing the Member, through the Health Committee, with a written update on the Renfrew report to see exactly where it is at.
I do not want to mislead the House at any stage, particularly about women's health, pregnancy and maternity. Members will know how important children are to me. They are little miracles. The pregnancy journey is not easy. Some women suffer prenatal or postnatal depression or maternal mental health fatigue, and I do not want to add to that pressure. That will be fed into the women's health action plan. Officials in the Department will be tearing their hair out when they hear me say that I want to publish the action plan before Christmas. I cannot commit to doing that before Christmas, but my ambition is to get it out long before the end of this mandate.
265 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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