Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Based on the proposal and the constitution of the board, the reserved powers of the National Maternity Hospital mean that the board cannot act other than in accordance with full clinical and operational independence. The Deputy might be referring to a potential situation where senior clinicians, mainly obstetricians, appointed might refuse to carry out operations or influence operations in the hospital in such a way that would result in not all clinical procedures being available. That would certainly be a situation which would warrant an intervention from the Government. However, it is absolutely not something that we see happening. Again, the reserved powers of the National Maternity Hospital fully protect its clinical and operational independence.