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

Ar dtús báire, tá na geallúintí dleathacha ann ionas go mbeidh gach seirbhís atá dleathach sa tír seo faoi láthair agus sa todhchaí ar fáil san ospidéal nua. Níl aon amhras faoi sin agus tá comhairle dhleathach faighte agam féin agus ag an Rialtas gur sin an scéal. Is turas fada a bhí ann go dtí an lá seo. Caithfidh mé é sin a rá. The 300-year lease at €10 a year is effective ownership. I have received legal advice to that effect. It is ownership. Deputy McDonald may disagree, and it is her entitlement to disagree. I have read the letter from Professor Madden and Dr. McLoughlin. They make the point that at the time of the HSE board's decision on 14 March 2022, the transfer of shares in SVHG from the Religious Sisters of Charity had not occurred "and we held concerns regarding realisation of that transfer". They go on to state:

While the shares have since been transferred from the [Religious Sisters of Charity] to a new company, St. Vincent's Holding CLG, we believe that in the interest of the public trust and confidence in this new project, there should be absolute clarity on the separation of Church and State.

Now there is absolute clarity on the separation of church and State, and that is contained in the constitution of the new hospital, which has reserved powers. Those make it very clear that there can be no "religious ethos or any ethnic" or other consideration in the deliberations of the hospital. That is clear in the reserved powers in the constitution of the hospital. The Minister's golden share gives him or her the power to enforce and to oblige the directors to follow through on those reserved powers and implement them. Additionally, the operating licence given by the HSE to the new hospital board also puts that obligation in place.

What I do not get, and what no one has answered to date, and I asked this last week as well, is how there is differentiation in the context of a 300-year lease at €10 a year and ownership.

I have the conditions here, so let us not pretend it is €850,000; it is not. If you read any of the conditions on the lease, they are normal conditions that would apply to everybody. The tenant with prime responsibility for the funding of public hospitals remains the tenant under the lease. That is not an imposition. There is no change to the permitted use without the consent. That is not an imposition.

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