Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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With respect, I have heard Deputy Shortall make this statement on many occasions. I checked to be absolutely sure that we were not setting up a national maternity hospital under the auspices of a Catholic organisation and I can tell the Deputy categorically that we are not. I refer to the comparison Deputy Shortall is making. What the Deputy is saying is happening in Ireland, based on everything I have seen. I fully accept the Deputy is saying it in good faith and she is genuinely deeply concerned about it. She said it to me on several occasions, so I checked and double-checked. The charters of the hospitals do not contain any reference to religious ethos.