A detailed breakdown of the nationality of mothers giving birth in Dublin maternity hospitals has been delivered to the Labour Party.
The breakdown comes 12 weeks after it was requested, and just one week after the referendum on citizenship.
A total of 4,249 babies were born to non-EU nationals in the three main Dublin maternity hospitals last year.
Among them were 1,500 Nigerians and 470 Romanians, but there were also large numbers of Americans, Canadians, Australians and Filipinos, thought to be mainly nurses working in the Irish health service.
In April, during the debate on the referendum, Justice Minister Michael McDowell gave the Dáil a figure for the number of births to non-Irish mothers in Dublin's maternity hospitals.
He also gave numbers for births to the five largest national groups.
However, Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte had submitted a Parliamentary Question seeking a detailed breakdown, by nationality, of these non-national mothers.
Mr Rabbitte told the Dáil today that he has received a reply from the Eastern Regional Health Authority. He said the reply had been sent on 11 June, polling day in the referendum.
The ERHA said it had started collecting the information as soon as the question was received, and that there had been no intention of delaying the reply.
But Deputy Rabbitte said that while the figures would not have affected the outcome of the referendum, the delay in delivering them was cynical and typical of the Government's lack of accountability.
