A drunken man was asleep for six hours on a spare bed in a busy maternity unit before he was discovered.

The major security breach at Portlaoise Hospital maternity unit happened as female patients were also asleep in the ward.

He was later found to have had a dead rabbit in his pocket which was covered in blood.

The man was only discovered after a nurse was doing her night rounds and heard him snoring.

A security alert was immediately raised and gardai were called to the maternity unit in the early hours of Saturday morning, August 16.

He was taken for examination to the hospital's emergency unit, where doctors confirmed he had been drinking before slipping unnoticed into the maternity ward.

He was later escorted from the hospital grounds but was spotted some time later climbing over a surrounding wall on the grounds.

When he was found he became involved in row in a public ward as patients woken from sleep looked on.

At that point security staff found he had the dead rabbit in his pocket with blood pouring from the animal.

The incident, which left patients and staff shaken, led to an investigation of security procedures at the hospital and a tightening up of access to the wards.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said it is open between certain hours each day to facilitate visitors and day services "and as such members of the public can come and go."

She added: "A small number of patients were disturbed while sleeping by the incident, which occurred over a short period of time. The hospital apologised to all those patients who witnessed and were disturbed by the incident. "The hospital has reviewed security measures for the entire hospital campus and is addressing the issues identified."

The security company G4S, which is employed by the HSE to provide security at the hospital, did not respond when contacted yesterday evening.

The Portlaoise maternity unit is currently under investigation by the Health Information and Quality Authority for care standards following the deaths of four babies over six years.

A report by the chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said patients and families were treated in a poor and at times appalling manner.

All of the babies died in similar circumstances.

The HSE said a subsequent review of staffing in Portlaoise found a need for 29 more nursing posts and these are now "being expedited through the national recruitment process." A review of staffing in all maternity units is also underway.

Irish Independent