Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his questions. Regarding his original comment about Mary Aikenhead, I confirm that in the charter of the St. Vincent's Healthcare Group there is no reference to Mary Aikenhead, that I am aware of, or to a religious ethos. The core values in the charter are "human dignity, compassion, justice, quality and advocacy". The charter also then refers to clinical excellence, excellence in patient care and so forth. Turning to the subject of clinical and operational independence, it is important that we are clear that the ownership of the site and clinical and operational independence are separate issues. In other words, clinical and operational independence can and must be achieved through legal agreements and governance structures.

For example, we could ask Jimmy Sheehan, who builds hospitals around the country very well, to go out and build us a new maternity hospital. The chances are that he would do it much faster than the State. We could then tell Mr. Sheehan that he fully owned the building and the land but that the State would be the occupier and would rent the building back off him lock, stock and barrel for the next 150 to 200 years. In that hypothetical case, the legal contract signed would state that Mr. Sheehan would have absolutely no say, obviously, in what happens inside the building. I do not think that anyone would ever suggest that Mr. Sheehan could influence what services would be provided to women in the hospital in such a scenario. What would guard clinical and operational independence would be how such a hospital would be set up, the board of directors, the articles of association and the legal powers and protections. To me, the most important issue is full clinical and operational independence.

A second issue relates to circumstances in which people have said, very reasonably, that they would prefer to own the land. We want to own the land. We will own the hospital and people want to own the land. I fully understand that desire, and that is our preference. That view has been conveyed to all stakeholders by me directly and by the Department. The Government's public position on this issue is well known. Now, the position of St. Vincent's Healthcare Group is also well known, namely, that the land is not for sale. As a result, a conversation is ongoing between the various stakeholders in that regard. However, I think we must keep the focus on clinical and operational independence.