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

At the outset, I would like to say that my only motivation here, as Taoiseach, is to ensure we make a decision that provides a modern, world-class maternity and neonatal hospital and facility for the women of Ireland now and into the future and that will allow all services legally permissible in the State now and into the future to be provided to the women of Ireland. That is the objective and motivation I have as Taoiseach. However, I want to see it done. I do not like hanging around forever. We should get it right. However, the latest phase of this co-location proposal began in 2013. It is now 2022. How long more do people want to wait? How many more years are women expected to go to a hospital that is physically not for purpose, as the current Holles Street hospital is? There are Nightingale wards. There are physical transfers of women with complications from Holles Street to St. Vincent's hospital. That is simply not good enough in the 20th century. Cork University Maternity Hospital was built and commenced during my time as Minister for Health. I sanctioned it and we got it built. Admittedly, that was two State hospitals coming together to provide state-of-the-art maternity and neonatal facilities. Nothing has happened since in terms of maternity facilities. The existing facilities of the other maternity hospitals are very old buildings.

Collectively and politically, we have responsibilities to decide too. We must make decisions. I accept legitimate concerns were raised. They have been comprehensively addressed and not via rhetoric but by legal guarantees and documents that have been published and that I implore the Deputy to read. The initial concerns were around clinical governance, operational independence and financial independence. Those have been comprehensively addressed via the constitution of the new national maternity hospital. There are the articles of association and the golden share the Minister has to ensure the reserved powers within the constitution are implemented in terms of all legally-permissible services being made available and provided.

It has now moved on to ownership. I respectfully suggest leasing land and a building for 300 years at a tenner per year is ownership, by any stretch of the imagination. That is public ownership by any historic or objective analysis. It will be a 300-year lease at a tenner per year. That is what the agreement states and to me that is public ownership.

I ask people to read the documentation and to go through the operating licence the HSE will be giving to the new national maternity hospital. It is very clear in respect of what obligations are there on behalf of the hospital to deliver all services to the women of Ireland to ensure we have better outcomes.

Remember all of this happened because expertise 20 or 25 years ago was telling us we needed to co-locate for the safety of women and better outcomes with deliveries. That was the original motivation behind co-location. That is why it happened in Cork.

This was to happen many years ago. The Mulvey agreement was published in 2016, I think. The current agreements are a significant advancement on Mulvey due to the golden share but also the public interest directors. It is now three being appointed by the Minister, three by the national maternity hospital and three by St. Vincent's Healthcare Group. I ask people to read the documentation and accept there are now legal guarantees provided that are cast-iron.

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