Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will run the Deputy through the history and with his permission we will hear from Mr. Devane, if that is okay. My understanding is people have talked about this for decades. Doctors hired by Holles Street in the 1960s were asked when they were going to move to co-locate with the adult hospital. The process as we understand it now began in 2013 when the then Minister for Health, James Reilly, announced the intention to move. This was on the back of a KPMG report, which he received. In July of that year, the campus project board was established by the HSE and in 2015 a memo to Government on the relocation of the Coombe and the Rotunda, which we should talk about on another day, noted the recommendation that Holles Street should move to Elm Park, in effect.

In 2016, the Mulvey agreement was brought together. My understanding is the negotiations were complex and at times difficult so Mr. Mulvey was brought in to chair that. The Mulvey agreement was put together and, in essence, the corporate structures and what we see today came out of that agreement. Dr. Mahony was involved in that and she may want to add her comments on it. In 2017, there was a memo to Government from the then Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, with information on the relocation. Planning permission was secured in 2017 and in 2018 there was another memo to Government on the relocation and agreement in principle on some of the key areas. In 2018, the contract for the first phase was announced. As the Deputy will be aware, significant works have already happened, such as pharmacies, car parks and so forth.

What changes have been made since then? In essence, we have moved from a 99-year lease to a 299-year lease, or from 100 years to 300 years. We have moved from one public interest director to three. It was one-four-four; it is now three-three-three and, critically, we have written the constitution. All parties have been involved in that. The constitution is essential to all this because it is the operating manual and the legal instructions for how the NMH will work. What we have done with it is very important. We are not only guaranteeing clinical and operational independence through the constitution, which everyone has rightly demanded, we have gone much further, which I am advised by the Attorney General is either very rare or unique. We are not just saying the new hospital can provide all services; we are saying it must provide all services. We have said six times in the constitution there can never be any religious influence whatsoever. The board of directors is obliged under its constitution to ensure all services are provided. As a final certainty, the Minister for Health has the power to intervene at his or her discretion to ensure that all services are provided without any religious influence at all. The three big changes are boards of directors, the lease and the constitution.

With permission, Mr. Devane will come in on the matter of the board.