Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Over the last week there has been a lot of whitewashing. Ministers and backbenchers who previously had their doubts had those doubts swept away by a letter that contained no guarantee that the full range of health options for women would ever be safeguarded. Maybe written on that page was a coded message not to rock the boat, to turn a blind eye to women's rights and to keep their noses firmly out the truck and out of the business of vested interests. I am bitterly disappointed that the Cabinet decided today to drive a coach and four through the clear wishes of right-thinking people.

Everyone I speak to is baffled as to why we cannot own the land and the hospital. We have heard much about this transaction being compared to buying an apartment. This is a disingenuous attempt to discredit anyone who opposes this sell-out. We now have a dodgy, intentionally fake contract that could see the rent jump from €10 per year to over €250 million over the lifetime of a lease.

The Irish people have made it quite clear in recent referendums that we are a secular State and that religion is a private matter. What happens if the HSE is unable to stay for the duration of the tenancy or if, for some unforeseen reason, the State needs to purchase the freehold site? The Government parties have a long history of pandering to vested interests. Healthcare should be for the good of patients and service users and not for profit. The Government should not have approved this deal in its current format. There were no meaningful or serious discussions in five or six years, according to St. Vincent’s Healthcare Group at yesterday's committee. Deputy Cullinane has spoken to the Minister about that.

At the very least, the Minister should have removed the phrase “clinically appropriate”. There is a broad consensus that this could be removed. There is no legal impediment to gifting the land. The Government yet again is failing women and has serious questions to answer. The solution is simple. We must have a public hospital that is built on public land. Anything less calls into question the Government’s commitment to Sláintecare. I understand that some Green Party Deputies are wrestling with their consciences. I appeal to them in particular now to draw a line in the sand and to support this motion.

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