The head of the Health Service Executive (HSE) says he does not agree with every part of the HIQA report into services at Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise.

Earlier, the Health Minister Leo Varadkar told the Oireachtas Health Committee that he was 'personally ashamed' of the way in which bereaved parents were dealt with in Portlaoise.

Mr Varadkar said vulnerable and grieving parents were treated without any respect or compassion.

Now Tony O'Brien has been telling TDs about the dispute his agency had with HIQA before the report into the deaths of a number of babies could be published.

He says new national standards are being applied in both arms of the hospital, to make sure there is no repeat of the conditions highlighted in the damning report.

But he says HIQA had asked him and his agency to offer feedback on a report - without giving them access to some of its findings.

Separately, the committee has agreed to host a series of stand-alone meetings in relation to patient safety at Portlaoise and other Irish hospitals.

Committee chair Jerry Buttimer said earlier there were still a number of questions to be answered.

"The report is deeply distressing and the committee will be asking relevant questions to the HSE to account for the deficiencies in the report" he said.

"If one was to listen to HIQA at our committee, you would suggest that patient safety was not treated as a priority - which does then give us significant concern".

"So then we must ensure that patient safety is paramount" he added.