Results 38,141-38,160 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: Those words, "clinically appropriate", were imposed by the HSE in the legal document to make sure it would not be a cardiology hospital, a neurology hospital or whatever else. That is all that means.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: It is not nonsense. The Deputy cannot just shout "Nonsense" across the floor. That is the reality. The golden share empowers the Minister to enforce the reserved powers within the constitution and the articles of association in terms of all available services. Do you think that Dr. Rhona O'Mahony, for example, a former master of Holles Street Hospital, is making this up? Do you think...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: They are articulating very strong support for this. Or Mary Brosnan, director of midwifery and nursing at the National Maternity Hospital. Up to 52 clinicians who work in Holles Street are saying this should go ahead.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: They are saying this deal-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: I think women would trust clinicians maybe more than lawyers in terms of a maternity hospital. I do not want to get into an argy-bargy across the floor of the House. My point is that clinicians are saying that we cannot tolerate any longer the substandard physical accommodation in Holles Street. All of us are saying that we all want it to happen quickly but not just now, let us go another...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: Explain how it does. It does not. Deputy Bacik, who is a person of far greater legal reputation and expertise than my good self, knows deep down that 300 years at a cost of €10 per year is essentially public ownership by another name.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The real issue that was raised legitimately was the State's interest in this and guaranteeing that women will have access to all services that are legally permissible. That was a core issue that was raised some time ago around the whole proposal for co-location. That happened many years ago for the reason I have given, which is that people think that is the way to get the best outcomes....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----and I think the balance has now swung very strongly in favour of needing to provide modern, state-of-the-art facilities for the women of this country.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: Women will have that access. That is my point. Women will have that access under these agreements. The Deputy has not pointed out how the 300-year lease at €10 a year will undermine the interests of women-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----or the access women will enjoy to all these services under the agreements. It has not yet been explained to me how the 300-year lease agreement undermines the provision of those services-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----or how it undermines the clinical, operational and financial independence of the new national maternity hospital. It does not.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The constitution of the hospital is very clear and the operating licence provided by the HSE to the new hospital is very clear about the obligation to implement and provide all services legally permissible under the law. It is not comparable to Roe v. Wade because the Oireachtas has acted here, and the people have acted via referendum.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: We are not comparable to the judicial situation in the United States at all in this regard.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Oireachtas has legislated here and the provision of all the services that legislation allows is, without question, legally guaranteed in a series of legal instruments that have been published. That is beyond question at this point.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The new hospital is the national maternity hospital, not St. Vincent's Healthcare Group.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy has had its say. Let us not try to deepen the plot, for whatever reason the Deputy might want to deepen it. Many conspiracy theories are floating about and to nail one of them, the Vatican should have nothing to do with healthcare in public hospitals, has nothing to do with healthcare at this particular maternity hospital and will have nothing to do with it. Forget about that,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: If I was starting on it, from now onwards, hospitals would be fully State hospitals. Co-location was correctly identified by experts in medicine and health as being the optimal configuration to produce better outcomes for women, with maternity hospitals co-located on tertiary hospital sites. While it has happened for other locations, the only place it has happened with a major hospital is...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Government has very strong legal advice as well, via the Attorney General, on the cast iron nature of the legal guarantees that are provided in these documents to underpin clinical, legal and operational independence of the new national maternity hospital. Let us make that point. Protecting the State's interests was critical in the legal agreements that have been arrived at. Most...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: There is also the physical transporting of women with serious complications from one hospital site to another. We must put this to an end. We have to commence putting that to an end, and there is still a journey ahead of us in getting a hospital built. As I have said, one substantial maternity hospital in 20-odd years is not good enough.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and for his consistency in highlighting it, and for his good memory of the significant meeting we had three years ago today at the Grand Parade in terms of the Defence Forces. I take his point more generally that there is clearly a need to upgrade significantly and improve resources and capability in respect of our Defence Forces. We need not just...