Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Sorry, the Mercy hospital in Cork was built. We do not build a lot of maternity hospitals, and we are incredibly slow at delivering them. We need to deliver. A 300-year lease gives us the reassurances that we need. The legal structures give real assurance against the risk of religious interference, which, I understand, has been a real concern. I believe that matter has been addressed. In my mind, doing nothing, walking away and deciding not take that option would not be the right approach.

We look forward to the debate at the Oireachtas committee this week and to hearing what the alternative approach is, how we can avoid delay and how we might move forward in another way. I do not see another way. It is important that we act.

Going back to the key point - and I hope the Deputy, as one of the people involved in bringing forward the Sláintecare report, agrees with this - I see the national maternity strategy as being centrally connected to it. Does the Deputy agree that the focus needs to be not only on who owns the hospital but also on how we get a midwife-led, woman-centred maternity system in place? I do not believe that we have delivered the maternity strategy with the pace and the ambition that is required. That is where the focus needs to be. It is not just about whether a 300-year lease constitutes effective ownership. That is not the key issue for the women of this country. We need to focus on the care.

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