INMO chief Liam Doran was responding to comments from the director-general of the HSE in which he compared parts of the health service to Post-Saddam Iraq.
Tony O'Brien was grilled by the Oireachtas Health Committee on a report into the deaths of a number of babies at Portlaoise Hospital.
Meanwhile Amy Delahunt and Oliver Kelly from Borrisoleigh gave harrowing accounts of how their baby Mary Kate died as a result of failings in maternity services at the hospital.
Liam Doran says members of his organisation repeatedly raised concerns about facilities there.
“Portlaoise is the worst staffed midwifery unit in the country – what I'm saying is that a major contributory factor to any drop in standards in healthcare must always be a consideration of whether staffing resource is proper, was the infrastructure proper and so on” he said.
“We have always said that the first, if you like, party to lose out in an under-funded, under-resourced and poorly managed health service are patients and their families” he added.
