The board of the Rotunda has until close of business today to give the HSE a list of public-only consultants who have been given permission to continue providing private practice at the maternity hospital.The HSE had warned the Rotunda that its response today will determine whether or not the health service will trigger a process that could result in the withholding or withdrawing of funding to the biggest maternity hospital in the country.It comes after the Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill turned down an invitation for a meeting with the board of the hospital, with the Department of Health saying no such meeting would be agreed to until the Rotunda backed down.The HSE has requested the names of consultants who are carrying out private practice on public-only contracts, and the names of the person who gave them permission to continue such practice. The HSE also sought the number of babies that have been delivered by these consultants, and the number of pregnant women currently seeing the consultants for private care. [ Rotunda stands by decision to allow public-only consultants offer private maternity careOpens in new window ]The amount of money the Rotunda has billed or claimed for, either from mothers themselves or from private health insurance companies, has also been requested. Carroll MacNeill had suggested that the Rotunda may owe refunds to women who have received private care from public-only consultants. Insurance Ireland, the representative body for insurers in Ireland, said it “would not expect” private fees to arise from consultants who are on public-only contracts.On Friday, the board of the biggest and oldest maternity hospital in the country sought a meeting with Carroll MacNeill to “explain the rationale” of its decision to permit private practice on-site by doctors who had signed contracts committing to only carrying out public work. But on Saturday, the Department of Health clarified that no such meeting will be arranged until the Rotunda agrees to align with Government policy. On Saturday, Taoiseach Michéal Martin warned the Rotunda board to reflect on its decision not to fully implement the Public Only Consultant Contract (POCC).[ Rotunda at loggerheads with Minister over public-only consultants having private patientsOpens in new window ]Speaking on Saturday in Cork, Martin said: “It’s very clear – it will proceed as agreed – the board of the Rotunda will have to reflect ... there can’t be any deviation from that, because this was a new departure that Government negotiated with the representatives of doctors. Doctors voluntarily signed up to it.“The hospital itself signed up to a service-level agreement with the Health Service Executive [HSE] which also has to be honoured.”Martin said it was clear the private model of health in maternity services and obstetrics was not sustainable in the modern era.