Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I cannot confirm that right now. This has been a long saga, as the Deputy knows. It was first announced in 2013 that the new national maternity hospital was to co-locate with St. Vincent's University Hospital. Since then, there seems to have been a protracted dispute between the two voluntary hospitals. Kieran Mulvey facilitated mediation in 2016. That mediation agreement was published. None of this should be new to people. References were made to leasing and so on, as was well known at the time. When the State is investing in and building a hospital, it should ideally own it. The State will own the hospital but there is an issue with regard to the freehold of the site. The Minister for Health will be engaging with stakeholders in that respect. Planning permission for the hospital was secured in 2017. Enabling works were carried out with regard to the car park and pharmacy. This is all public knowledge. The Minister will now engage with the St. Vincent's Healthcare Group and the Religious Sisters of Charity on the issue of ownership. There is no question of the ethos being in any way influenced by any religious organisation.

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