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

Deputy Boyd Barrett raised the national maternity hospital and the Sisters of Charity. The Government is not handing anything over to anybody. That is the first point I will make on the national maternity hospital. The original objective of all of this, in terms of clinical advice, was that a new maternity hospital should be aligned with a tertiary hospital. This was recommended 20 years ago. It happened in Cork with the maternity hospital we built. Two public maternity hospitals agreed to go to a new site at Cork University Hospital. At the time we got a state-of-the-art maternity and neonatal hospital built. The idea was that it would be alongside a trauma and level 4 hospital. The same was to happen in all of the Dublin hospitals but this has not happened and we need to reflect on this.

The reason clinicians say we need it to be adjacent to a tertiary hospital is for the best outcomes for women. In certain cases where women could get into difficulty in pregnancy being adjacent to a tertiary hospital, where immediate intervention could occur, could save the life of a woman. Likewise with a neonatal unit available the life of a baby can be saved. This was the original motivation behind Holles Street engaging with St. Vincent's hospital. We seem to have forgotten this in the debate that has ensued.

Governance is very important. If the State is investing 100% in a full facility - and it is the State that will finance the hospital - then the State has to be on the board and in the governance structures. It has to be reflected because it is a long-term operation. I also think in terms of ownership it has to be reflected. Prior to the Government coming into office Mr. Kieran Mulvey had been asked by the previous Government to engage in a process of mediation, which he did. He came up with an outcome that at the time was agreed and accepted all round. It was raised again. Approximately one year ago we were not happy with some aspects of it and there was a big public debate. There have been further discussions with all of the stakeholders. The objective remains to build a state-of-the-art maternity hospital adjacent to a tertiary hospital of the quality of St. Vincent's that will provide for women for the next 50 to 100 years. The current conditions are appalling. They are absolutely not acceptable in the 21st century.

People say we should go somewhere else as if we could just click our fingers, switch on the light bulb and get a new site somewhere on its own and develop a new hospital. I only wish it were so simple.

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