An investigation is underway following the death of a newborn baby at Cavan General Hospital on Tuesday, the HSE has confirmed.

No clinical details surrounding the death have been released.

This is the fourth baby to die in the hospital's maternity unit in the last two-and-a-half years.

Last year, former Health Minister, Dr James Reilly, said that he would instruct the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) to carry out a review of services in Cavan's maternity unit, however no formal request was ever made to HIQA and a review was never carried out.

The HSE has expressed its sympathy to the family involved in this latest case.

The death follows the publication of a highly critical report on maternity services at the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise. For more on that report, click here