Consultant microbiologist at the hospital, Dr Michael Mulherin, said that the hospital “did not have any current concerns” about the health of the three babies.

One young woman said she was “devastated” to get a call from her GP last week saying that her two day-old baby had MRSA. She was clear.

The woman added she got no official explanation of how her baby daughter was infected.

It’s also emerged that another baby born at the hospital four months ago also tested positive for MRSA the day after being released.

Rosemary Cassidy from Letterkenny, a member of the Donegal branch of MRSA and Families Network, said that in light of the earlier case, measures should have already been in place to reduce or prevent the risk in the first place.

“They know new-born babies are at risk. It has been confirmed to me that these babies have only been diagnosed in the past week. We already know of a baby who was diagnosed with MRSA four months ago, so what I am asking is how many other cases have there been in the meantime that we don’t know about and what has the hospital been doing?” she asked.

The Rate my Hospital survey on Irish Health.com suggests that five per cent of patients claim to have contracted MRSA or another hospital-acquired infection at Letterkenny General. Ms Cassidy claimed that the figures could even be higher.

She said there should be greater transparency from the hospital and she said that members of the public who get the infection should speak out.

“We are aware of ten deaths in the hospital last year that are associated with MRSA. Now we see that babies are at risk. The public has to get behind us in putting pressure on the hospital to get on top of this.

“If it is down to cleaning, then more cleaning staff should be taken on. This should not be happening.”