Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I fully agree with the Deputy. The Mulvey agreement was a framework agreement. A vast amount of work has been done since then to find a legal agreement that works. Very reasonable questions have been posed recently. People want to be assured of the clinical and operational independence of the new hospital. We need to listen carefully to those concerns and address them. We must listen to the board of the HSE and the Department's analysis of where matters stand. If there are additional things we need to do to be fully satisfied, we will pursue them. We are looking at those options now. We are not looking to unpick the framework agreement that was set out and potentially delay the project. We owe it to the women, babies and healthcare staff to move them out of Holles Street as quickly as possible and into a new and modern maternity hospital.