Results 20,941-20,960 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I will check with the Department. I can certainly confirm that I did seek such advice.

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: My understanding is the State has been involved since the then Minister, James Reilly, first announced there was to be co-location at the St. Vincent's site in 2013.

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: The Minister, Deputy Varadkar, has also been involved.

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: The engagement was very intense. The parties involved were the HSE, the Department of Health, St. Vincent's Healthcare Group and the National Maternity Hospital.

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: Pretty much-----

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: They spanned most of time I have been in office.

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: When I came into office, the constitution of the new hospital had not been written. The offer of leasehold ownership was for 99 years with an option to extend this by 50 years to 149 years.

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: The partnership being proposed is complex. I believe we all accept that. It is a clinical partnership between two voluntary hospitals but the State has a role, generally through the HSE. The negotiations were very complex. There were many rounds of talks and when I-----

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: It is a very large partnership. If any of us were to look at a proposed partnership involving assets potentially worth several billion euro, we would find that lawyers had pored over all the documents and, in many cases, the level of complexity-----

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I will just finish on this. In such cases, the level of complexity at a corporate level would be far in excess of what we see in the number of documents we have now.

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: If we were building on public land, by definition, there would be no lease.

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: It is.

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: It was for the same reason we all wanted that. Look at the debate we are having. People have very understandable concerns. None of us is expected to walk around knowing the difference between rent, leasehold ownership and freehold ownership. People are not expected to know that apartments are typically bought under leasehold ownership whereas houses tend to be bought under freehold ownership.

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: It is a fair question but I disagree with the Deputy's characterisation. I am open to correction if the record shows otherwise but I believe my position, which I have stated very freely on many occasions, has always been that I would prefer public ownership and to own the freehold. The Minister, Deputy Harris, and I both asked for that.

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: If I may finish, I am open to correction but I do not believe that I ever asked why the Deputy was asking his questions. We have been having a very open debate. The Deputy and many of our colleagues here are asking the exact same questions I asked. I acknowledge the questions he is asking are absolutely legitimate.

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: This probably goes back to something we were discussing at the committee meeting yesterday. For historical reasons, there is a very understandable and deep mistrust in our country. Any complexity in a proposal such as this can therefore add to the concerns people have. We want this to be as clear and as clean as possible. For the reasons we have all been debating for the past two weeks,...

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I am not a lawyer. The advice I have received previously is that Oireachtas debate does have some legal standing and that, when the courts are seeking to interpret things, people can refer back to the Oireachtas debate. I am not a lawyer, so I would prefer not to make a definitive statement on this.

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I am sorry. I beg the Deputy's pardon. I thought the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, was coming in. I am so sorry.

National Maternity Hospital: Statements (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I might be sharing time with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. The proposed new building for the National Maternity Hospital is probably the most important investment in women's healthcare in a generation. It is widely agreed that the midwives, nurses and doctors in Holles Street provide great care and that they are leaders in advancing women's healthcare. After repeal, Holles...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Facilities (12 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.