Mr. Ciar?n Devane:

We had a number of very good, very detailed and very robust debates over the past 12 months to try to address all the issues people are legitimately concerned about and to which they want to see a solution. For example, we wanted to see the transfer of shares come through. We wanted to see some of the details on the duration of the lease consistently written into all the documents across the whole agreement. The constitution was one of the things for which I pushed very hard. It is the foundation document around protections for women, the independence of clinical decision-making, and making sure this will be the biggest and most exciting step forward and new hospital the HSE will build for the foreseeable future.

It is not just about moving location but increasing capacity. Some 100 beds will increase to 150 so there will be more and better capacity. It is to allow the innovations to take place, including things we do not really talk about, such as gynaecological mesh, menopausal clinics and so on. Those services will be put in as well. As a board, we saw all these amazing things we were doing. We had very robust debates. The conclusion we came to as a board was that there are sufficient protections for the things people are worried about and a tremendous opportunity to take a major step forward. That was the decision of the board.