Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Maternity services have fallen short when it has come to caring for the women of this country, and will fall short for children who will be born here. I know many of the HIQA reports on our maternity hospitals are outdated. It shows how bad the infrastructure is. Is there another agenda here? Why would somebody go against this project? My duty of care is to the mothers and generations of children to come.

It is important to point out that the Sisters of Charity are giving away land worth €50 million on a 299-year contract. The Government has buildings and schools around this country with 99-year leases and there does not seem to be a problem about that. This is for 299 years. We are here to live for today and look after the women and children of today and tomorrow. That is what we are here to do. It is a 299-year lease. Let us get this done. Let us look after the vulnerable and the people who want to make this happen. Why is it that everything has to go backwards to try to get media attention? When I am asked at a door what I am doing, the answer is that I am here to protect, represent and care for the people of today. We are here to care for the women, children, husbands and partners of this country, so let us stop the nonsense. Let us get this moving forward to care for the people of today.

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