Key information about the safety records of individual maternity units is not being made available to the public, in spite of official assurances following the Portlaoise scandal that our maternity services are safe.

In the wake of public concerns surrounding the potentially avoidable deaths of four infants over a six-year period in the maternity unit at Portlaoise Hospital, both the Government and the HSE have moved to assure the public that maternity services are safe.

Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore said yesterday that that our maternity servives were very good and very safe, and huge emphasis was placed on safety. Previously, HSE Director General Tony O'Brien said the clinical performance of the maternity service at Portlaoise Hospital and other hospitals was not out of line with clinical norms.

However, details of the clinical performance of all maternity units are currently not given to the public. So while overall Ireland is regarded as having a good maternity safety record by international standards, there are no figures available which compare the results one named unit with another.

A check by irishhealth.com shows that seven out of the country's 19 maternity units, including the Portlaoise unit, currently do not publish annual reports on their clinical performance, which in the case of hospitals that do publish these reports, include details of infant and maternal deaths and why they may have occurred.

In addition, a report that is used as the benchmark for measuring infant mortality rates in Irish maternity units does not name the units when it is outlining their clinical performance.

The report by the Cork-based National Perintal Epidemiology Centre (NPEC) provides a list of numbered units and their infant mortality rated under different categories of mortality, but does not name any unit.

The NPEC reportfor 2011 shows a wide variation in the perinatal mortality rate among Irish maternity units - the highest rate reported was four times the lowest rate.

Perinatal mortality includes early and late neonatal deaths and stillbirths.

The report says, however, that while differences in perinatal mortality, excluding congenital malformations were identified between units, there were 'no statistically significant outliers', in other no rates above the accepted norm.

However, when the perinatal death rate is broken down into early neonatal and stillbirth rates, statistically significant 'outliers' among units are identified.

The NPEC report reveals that one maternity unit had an overall early neonatal (newborn) mortality rate that was 'outside the upper limit of the confidence interval' and this, the report said, indicated that its neonatal death rate was statistically significantly higher than the overall national rate of 1.9 per 1,000 live births.

The unnamed unit had an early neonatal death rate of just over four per 1,000 live births.

The report said the extent to which differences across units in the profile of mothers delivered might explain the variation in infant mortality rates warrants further investigation.

On stillbirth rates, the NPEC report said the rate of five maternity units was close to the upper limit of the confidence interval, suggesting deviation from the overall rate'. The national average for stillbirths is 4.3 per 1,000 births, but three units had rates of over seven per 1,000.

However, the NPEC report does not name the units that deviated from the norm for stillbirths.

Meanwhile. the HSE has confirmed to irishhealth.com that seven maternity units currently do not publish annual reports outlining their clinical activity.

These are: Castlebar; Clonmel; Kilkenny; Mullingar, Portlaoise; Sligo and Wexford. The country's only private unit - Mount Carmel, which closed last week, did not publish an annual report.

Last year's HIQA report on the Savita Halappanavar case pointed out that many units do not produce annual clinical reports.

The HSE told irishhealth.com that of the units that do not publish reports, three - Wexford, Kiklenny and Clonmel, submit a report annually to HIQA and statistics for these three hospitals in the south-east are presented at an annual study attended by health professionals.

The HSE said Sligo Hospital compiles clinical data on an annual basis but a report is not published.

The Oireachtas Health Committee plans to discuss the Portlaoise infant deaths case at a private meeting tomorrow.

Health Minister James Reilly has asked his Chief Medical Officer, Tony Holohan, to investigate the Portlaoise deaths. The issue may also be referred to the safety watchdog HIQA for an independent inquiry.

Chair of the Health Committee Jerry Buttimer said the Committee meeting had been called 'given the gravity of the incidents and the inadequate response to initial reports and recommendations.'

"Regrettably, it is inevitable that in the delivery of health services, outcomes will not always be perfect. However, when something goes wrong the patient and family involved deserve a full explanation that eliminates confusion," Mr Buttimer said.

Minister Reilly has said it was totally unacceptable that in the Portlaoise case, families were not informed that investigations were carried the infant deaths at the hospital.

Patience wearing thin on safety guarantees