Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday in Questions on Promised Legislation, the Taoiseach stated the issue should have been raised in Leaders' Questions. He is getting those questions today because he still has not clarified his position on the new national maternity hospital. The decision to locate a State-built and funded, much-needed, modern national maternity hospital without clear clarification as to ownership of the site or governance and ethos of the hospital has resulted in the present mess. That mess has developed - and here I disagree with the Taoiseach - over the last century because of the role of the State and of vested interests in the way our hospital and health services are run. Regarding the new national maternity hospital, we face, because of the role of the church and through the Religious Sisters of Charity, what is called a very complex situation. It has developed into a complex situation and it is an issue we must deal with.

The situation in relation to the new national maternity hospital is a test for the Government and for the people, particularly women, of Ireland. Are we to have high quality, free to use public services as a right for all in a modern secular republic? Alternatively, will we have a shabby compromise with the State spending at least €800 million to build a hospital on land we do not own, funding 100% of the cost of staff, the board of governors nominated by a private charity and no certainty that all medical procedures legal in the State will be provided to women who need them? Rights are exerted, charity is bestowed. We must move away from this. I heard what the Taoiseach said before but this is the line we have to get it over.

I know what the preference of the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, is, but the stance the St. Vincent’s Healthcare Group outlined yesterday was that it must retain the land to have control of clinical governance for operational reasons, including the provision of a safe, integrated system of care for patients. If that is the case, the Taoiseach must prepare for CPO of the land. If he thinks that cannot take place because of cost, length of time or whatever, he must be prepared to move away from that site. He must make that clear to the Religious Sisters of Charity who he is negotiating with over the coming days. Seemingly, they have been out of the system since 2017 but now are a key part of it again.

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