Seventeen consultants on public-only contracts at the Rotunda were given written permission by the master of the Dublin hospital to carry out private care, against the wishes of the Minister of Health. The Rotunda has now conceded it was “wrong” to take the position it adopted as early as 2024 in its dispute with the Government. The biggest and busiest maternity hospital in the country had billed private health insurers for more than €350,000 of private care by public-only consultants. The Rotunda said any woman who had paid for private care by a consultant obstetrician, who now must adhere to their public-only contract, will be fully refunded by the hospital. Last year, the board of the Rotunda formally decided it would allow consultants who had signed contracts committing them to public-only care to continue offering private services on-site at its Dublin city centre hospital. The flouting of the public-only contract led to a public row with the Minister, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, who threatened the hospital’s funding and indemnity if it refused to comply. Last month, the board of the hospital backed down and no longer allows public-only consultants to treat private patients. Permission slips signed by the hospital’s master, Sean Daly – released under Freedom of Information Act to The Irish Times – show 17 consultants were allowed by him and the executive management team to continue offering private care. [ If Jennifer Carroll MacNeill means what she says about women’s choice, she needs to fund itOpens in new window ]The earliest permission slip was signed in November 2024 with the most recent signed in February 2026. The 17 staff members included at least one consultant obstetrician along with consultants working in neonatology, anaesthetics and laboratory medicine. Records released by the HSE show that between January 2026, when the public-only contract came into effect, and June, when the issue came to a head, the Rotunda had billed private health insurance companies for €365,964. It emerged last month that at least one health insurer had refused to process payments for private care provided by a public-only consultant obstetrician. That obstetrician had delivered five babies between January and June of this year and had eight pregnant women in their care at the time of the controversy last month. A spokesman for the Rotunda confirmed that 17 consultants had been given such permission. “The hospital is not seeking to reduce that number or to dispute it. The permissions were granted on foot of the board’s position adopted in September 2024, and the hospital has accepted that that position was wrong,” the spokesman said. The spokesman confirmed that since June 8th, when the hospital publicly backed down from its row with Carroll MacNeill, “no insurer has been billed in connection with private care by a public only consultant since that date”.He said the €365,964 billed to private insurers was “being reconciled in full with the HSE and the Department of Health”.“The hospital is working through every account and will account for the final position once that work is complete,” the spokesman said. [ Rotunda consultant row is just the tip of the icebergOpens in new window ]“The hospital’s commitment is straightforward. No woman will be left out of pocket. Where any woman paid personally for care the hospital was not in a position to provide, she will be refunded, and every case is being checked. “In the majority of cases the cost was met by private health insurance rather than by the woman herself,” he continued.“The hospital’s focus now is on full and sustained compliance, on satisfying the HSE that compliance is complete, and on the care of the women and babies who depend on it.”