Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Church and state were separated more than 200 years ago in the United States and more than 100 years ago in France. In the 19th year of the 21st century, however, church and State continue to be entwined in Ireland. We have church-controlled schools, hospitals and so on. Ireland lags behind and the Government lags behind. Where blows have been struck to this arrangement - and we saw a spectacular example recently with the vote for repeal and another in respect of the baptism barrier - the impetus for change has not come from the political establishment, rather it has come from below as a result of popular pressure.

The vote of the people to repeal the eighth amendment poses questions regarding church and State rather more sharply. The Government has announced its intention to bring forward legislation which would allow surgical abortions to protect the life of the pregnant person, to protect health and, also, to allow terminations in Irish hospitals in the event of fatal foetal abnormalities. If provided for in legislation passed by this Dáil, will these services be available in hospitals controlled by the church? Will these services be provided at the new national maternity hospital, which is due to be built on a campus controlled by a company with a board dedicated to a Catholic ethos? Is the Taoiseach aware that the St. Vincent's healthcare group annual accounts for 2017 state that the future directors of this company are obliged to uphold the "values and vision" of the founder of the Sisters of Charity, Mary Aikenhead, who is currently in the process of being made a Catholic saint? Is the Taoiseach aware that the emeritus professor of theology at Maynooth University has said that this obligation requires compliance with Catholic medical ethics?

Does he think it is satisfactory that, more than one year on from the announcement that the Sisters of Charity were due to step back at St. Vincent's, the new company due to take over ownership of the campus has yet to be incorporated? Is the Taoiseach concerned that the chair of the new company is the old chair of the St. Vincent's healthcare group, which refused a tubal ligation to Clare Malone and elective contraception procedures to many others? Finally, can the Taoiseach offer a guarantee to the Dáil and, more importantly, to the women of Ireland that abortions services, if provided for in legislation passed by this Dáil, will be fully available at the national maternity hospital?

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