Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On St. Vincent's, I have had confirmation in recent weeks that all medical procedures in accordance with the law of the land are available at St. Vincent's, including pregnancy termination, tubal ligation and gender reassignment procedures. The information I, as Minister for Health, get as to the number of terminations does not specify the locations, but I can confirm that.

Buying out a campus at God's knows how much money would not be that useful in terms of the serious things we need to be able to do to address waiting lists, promote women's healthcare and much more. That is where we would spend the money.

However, the Deputy raises an important point around the State involvement on the boards of the voluntary hospitals, because we fully fund them. At present, we have a peculiar situation where the State has very little oversight and involvement. Where we have had good progress recently is with the children's hospital, where three voluntary hospitals have come together. In fairness to all three and the great work by the Department, there are now a significant number of public interest directors on the board of CHI. That is a model for the future.