Results 21,061-21,080 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: It is not a "Yes" or "No".

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I am in the middle of answering that and genuinely trying to answer. I do not believe those who are asking questions have any fault, nor have I heard that suggested.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: To the Deputy's second point on whether this has taken a long time because of the complexities involved, it has. As the Deputy said, I am the fourth Minister for Health who has had this project.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the committee for the invitation to attend and for the opportunity to discuss the proposal for the new national maternity hospital. I am joined by Mr. Ciarán Devane, chairperson of the HSE board, Professor Mary Higgins, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, Ms Mary Brosnan, director of midwifery and nursing at the National Maternity Hospital, and consultant obstetrician and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: The State is the owner of the building. In 300 years' time, the land would revert to St. Vincent's.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I might ask Mr. O'Donoghue for the legal perspective on why that is the case.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: As part of the building - it is a huge new building - some existing services in St. Vincent's are being displaced and they are being accommodated in the new works. In response to the point on "clinically appropriate", because I agree there are people asking very understandable questions about this, really, they are asking could this in some way be used for a doctor to say that he or she...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: It does. It is to facilitate the facilities - the current services which are being displaced by the building. On "clinically appropriate", I might ask Professor Higgins for her input.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: The facilities that have been displaced by the building of the new national maternity hospital will be accommodated in the new structure.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I would have to check for the Deputy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I do not accept that. The explanation stands up on several grounds. We are to some extent protecting maternity services also against the pressures of the State so that the State does not say that it has a state-of-the-art building, it has a lot of extra beds, it has a lot of extra operating theatres and a lot of extra diagnostics and could it not maybe push in and start using those...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: The advice we have from the HSE and from the clinicians is that the phrase matters. It matters in terms of services. It matters in terms of the services provided and protecting those services. However, if it would be helpful to both the Deputy and the Chair, because I agree with the Deputy that this has become something that people are focusing on and really asking serious and important...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: It is not.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: For clarity, what I said at the start was not "trust the doctors"; it was just "listen". What I had said to people was, "Let us listen to the midwifes, the nurses and the doctors", but I take the Deputy's point and I agree. The reason we are having this debate is because there is a very understandable deficit of trust because of the history in the State between religion and women's...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: Deputy Hourigan, I think, is asserting that the term "clinically appropriate" - her concern that has been raised by many others as well - would somehow give a woman's treating clinician the right, the power or the influence to say that he or she does not believe it is clinically appropriate, for example, for the woman to have an elective termination and, therefore, she cannot have one. My...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I think there are two different questions there. The first is whether there is more we can do. Let us see. As I said earlier, we have to be open to this discussion. One of the things we are doing is clarifying categorically what it does mean on the record of the Oireachtas. This carries legal weight. I have also offered to write to the committee to do that. The second part of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I do not mean to cut across the Deputy. Would it be helpful for me to issue something in writing? She is asking for clarity. Would it be helpful for me to issue something in writing to the committee?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: The figure that I have seen floating around was €800 million-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: -----In the course of the week, people were rounding it up to €1 billion. The full costings have not been put together. We need the Government decision. We need the detailed business case. Then it has to go out to tender. When the Stat has a view, it will have an accurate view as to what it should cost. Typically, that figure would not be released, because we want to run a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (11 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: My understanding is that the enabling works at this point are €51 million to date.