Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is more than a year since the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, promised that the new national maternity hospital would be publicly owned and run. Twelve months on, there has been absolutely no legal clarity on the matter. In fact, a bizarre situation is ongoing whereby the Vatican, apparently, can veto the new hospital set to be built with public money and determine which procedures may be carried out there. It is reported that this €350 million project - that is the current estimate; it could be a lot more than that - may not be put out to tender until these matters are determined. Even when the hospital is finally built and funded, with a significant outlay of taxpayers' money, we have no legal certainty in terms of its public ownership. Put simply, we will have to negotiate for a place on the board of a hospital for which the public has paid and which the public should rightly own. It is time for absolute clarity in this regard. We have gone around this issue during several debates. Will the Taoiseach indicate clearly to the House when the national maternity hospital will be built, confirm that the commitment made by the Minister that it will be publicly owned and run will be fulfilled to the letter, and tell us when the tendering process will begin?

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