Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses for coming today. They will understand from our perspective that we in the Opposition have mainly been asking for a discussion around this deal for two years now, which we are only getting in the last two weeks. It is really unsatisfactory for us. Again, I will appeal publicly to the Government to delay this and give us more time because we are being pushed into a position of having to accept much information and many facts without having the time to drill down into them. We are also being hamstrung in the sorts of asks we can make on the witnesses.

One of the things in which I am interested, and I do not want Mr. Menton or anyone else to take anything personal out of my line of questioning, is when Mr. Menton talked about the hospital evolving into a secular hospital. I am interested in that path of evolution. I want to ask Mr. Menton a couple of questions around it. Like other Catholic organisations, the membership of the Sisters of Charity would have been falling consistently over decades now. Was it not inevitable that it would be pulling back from direct involvement because there are too few of them? I believe previous constitutions allowed for the Sisters of Charity or its nominees to make appointments and carry out functions on the boards. Rather than it just being about getting the national maternity hospital done, was it not inevitable that it was going to fade away because of that evolutionary process?