Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

They are fantastic staff in St. Vincent's and many of the other hospitals. I predicate everything that I say by making that point. They are fantastic people. The problem with these religious organisations is that, for example in St. Vincent's, one cannot get sterilisation or a vasectomy. Why not? This is a hospital that is publicly funded but owned by a religious organisation that has an ethos that does not believe in and does not want to give certain procedures. They continue to have an influence. In the new St. Vincent's hospital, they have three board members who will be on the holding group, which is the overarching group that will own the four entities, namely, the designated activity company, DAC, for the new national maternity hospital; the private St. Vincent's hospital; the public St. Vincent's hospital; and St. Michael's Hospital, which is in my own area. Why did Professor Deirdre Madden, a professor of law and the vice chair of the HSE have the concerns that she had if they are baseless? Why? Why does St. Vincent's insist on retaining a foothold in the new holding company? Why?

See this speech in context