Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is being quite disingenuous. This project has been delayed for almost a decade. Four successive Ministers for Health were incapable of delivering the project in a way that would satisfy the public in terms of the independence of the hospital and the protection of a massive public investment. The Minister referred to co-location. Nobody argues about that. This is about so much more than co-location, however. It is about a takeover. Does the Minister realise, because I do not think he does, that the new national maternity hospital is due to become a wholly owned subsidiary of St. Vincent's Holdings? Its status is to change completely. Furthermore, we all know that the Vatican had to approve the nuns' transfer of their shareholding to the new holding company. When asked what terms and conditions were attached to this transfer and whether any documentation exists spelling them out, the Minister of Health flippantly responded that we would have to talk to the Vatican about the matter and that the Government does not have any such documents. Is the Minister, Deputy Ryan, seriously telling us that that question has never been asked in the context of that delay? If it has not been asked, why is that the case?

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