The mother of the baby in the Monaghan hospital tragedy was seen in the treatment room prior to her transfer to Cavan General Hospital, the Minister for Health told the Dáil.

Mr Martin said that from discussions with the North Eastern Health Board and its preliminary inquiries, the young mother was seen in the room at the hospital and a decision was taken to refer her to Cavan.

"The nature of that process remains to be ascertained in greater detail." He added that there was only one special maternity ambulance in the State. "The board has stated that no such specific undertaking was given relating to a specialist maternity ambulance."

Replying to a series of special notice questions, Mr Martin said it should be noted that the maternity unit, which had existed in Monaghan, had just one obstetrician. "There was no special after-care baby unit and no neo-natal unit in Monaghan. The unit never operated at the level one would normally envisage for major maternity hospitals."

Mr Martin said he had instructed the North Eastern Health Board to carry out a full review of the incident and provide him with a detailed report of all the circumstances surrounding the case. The review, he said, would be evaluated externally and independently of the board. He had also met the board's chief executive earlier in the day to discuss the matter, he added.

"I expect to receive a full report from the board as a matter of urgency. I do not propose to comment in detail today on the specific circumstances surrounding this case." Mr Martin said that while he did not wish to pre-empt the inquiry, he agreed it was unacceptable that a person would not receive emergency treatment.

"I also find it disturbing that, for whatever reason, and again I do not wish to pre-empt the inquiry, there was no accompaniment on the ambulance. I have been informed by the board that the emergency medical technicians on the ambulance were trained in the specific area of emergency pregnancy deliveries. Nonetheless, the issue has to be investigated in the context of the case."

Ms Róisín Shortall (Labour, Dublin North West) said it was shameful that a young woman with a medical emergency found that those in a position to assist her did not provide it.

Mr Martin agreed that the situation was unacceptable. Protocols were in place and available for perusal, he added. "Those protocols envisaged that when events of an emergency nature occurred, whether in case of advance pregnancy complications or other types of emergencies, the hospital should be in a position to respond."

Mr Seymour Crawford (FG, Cavan-Monaghan) said he was familiar with the hospital. "I beg the Minister to see the situation at the hospital resolved once and for all. It has gone beyond a joke."

Mr John Gormley (Green Party, Dublin South East) claimed the tragedy came as a direct consequence of the policies pursued by the Department, where resources were centralised into larger hospitals and smaller hospitals were downgraded.