Stormont's infrastructure minister has said road improvements should be prioritised before any decisions are made to move hospital services, following plans to temporarily transfer inpatient maternity services from Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry to Craigavon Area Hospital.

Liz Kimmins, the Sinn Féin minister and Newry and Armagh assembly member, told the Northern Ireland Assembly infrastructure committee on Wednesday that progress on planned road upgrades "has to come first" before moves are made on healthcare services.

She highlighted that infrastructure enabling people in some rural areas to travel long distances "quickly" for hospital services "simply isn't there".

Kimmins referenced several road schemes including the A1 upgrade, and the Ballynahinch and Cookstown bypasses. She said better connectivity was "critical" for rural communities and there was a need to "work hand-in-hand across government".

The Southern Health and Social Care Trust announced this week that it had not been able to recruit consultant obstetricians to fill vacancies at Daisy Hill and is preparing to temporarily move inpatient maternity services to Craigavon.

Meanwhile, Aontú representative Róisín Mulgrew has warned that centralising maternity services is putting unsafe pressure on hospitals and must not be repeated at Daisy Hill.

The Newry and Armagh representative said new figures from Causeway Hospital, where births were removed in 2023, should serve as a warning rather than a blueprint for the Daisy Hill plans.

She cited data indicating sickness absence within maternity services at the Northern Trust topped 42,000 hours in 2022 and rose to more than 49,000 hours in 2025, with the service frequently needing between 50 and 90 extra staff shifts every month to maintain safe staffing levels.

Mulgrew said moving mothers and babies from one hospital to another does not make demand disappear, but transfers it elsewhere, and that patient safety must come first at both Daisy Hill and Craigavon.

She called for an urgent plan to recruit and retain medical staff at Daisy Hill, highlighting the large rural and border population the hospital serves, including areas such as Forkhill and Cullaville in south Armagh.

Aontú has launched a petition calling for births and inpatient maternity services to be protected at Daisy Hill, amid fears that any temporary change could become permanent.