Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is right in saying there is a long history of provision of health care by such service providers but we are now in the 21st century. The Minister said the key issue is the whether the service is being provided, so let us get down to the nitty-gritty on that. I refer to an article in The Sunday Business Postof 9 May. The headline stated: "Catholic ethos restricting St. Vincent's Hospital from procedures." The article stated that doctors working at St. Vincent's Healthcare Group in Dublin are being restricted from carrying out procedures that are contrary to Catholic ethos. It stated that gynaecologists and urologists said they were not allowed to perform procedures such as vasectomies and tubal ligations for patients who want to permanently prevent pregnancy. It further stated that the doctors contradicted assurances given by management which had insisted there were no restrictions stopping its doctors from performing these procedures. Doctors at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in Dublin city centre said they faced the same restrictions. It also states that the Mater hospital and St. Vincent's hospital receive €450 million in State funding between them each year. Mr. John Thornhill, the President of the Irish Society of Urology said vasectomies were "not allowed in hospitals in the public sector with a Catholic ethos". Would the Minister care to comment on that?

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