Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I listened to some of the debate on the way in and I have to say I found myself strangely in agreement with some of the most hostile adversaries of the Catholic Church's role in medicine, even while being astounded at the disingenuousness of some of their arguments. I say this because it is quite clear the Sisters of Charity have abandoned any desire to be in a position to influence the ethos of anything that goes on at the St. Vincent's Hospital campus in future. As I understand it, it has appointed a board, which will in the future appoint itself, and they have not retained the ability to nominate the members of St. Vincent's holdings or, indeed, the directors.

It is a great tragedy they have allowed this to happen. We all understand the vocations crisis and the situation the religious have found themselves in. We also understand they do not have the energy or the resources to continue to play an active role, but they were, in one sense, a bulwark against statism. What we hear now is an almost universal call for State-controlled medicine. There is almost something of an unintended compliment to the Catholic Church in the arguments coming from Dr. Peter Boylan, Senator Bacik and others, which is to say they do not think the religious ethos should have any role in medicine but they seem to have some kind of residual fear that a day will come in the future when public opinion would support a more Christian concept of the ethos that might run the maternity hospital. That would be a very good thing. When we think about the procedures they are upset about and anxious to ensure happen, they are all elective procedures. Some of them involve the destruction of innocent life. I have heard a person who sees themselves as a spokesperson for persons with disability speak here who seems to have no realisation that it is religious-run healthcare that speaks out against the destruction of people with disabilities in abortion, something that is routine throughout the world.When we think of the procedures that are being advanced in the area of gender reassignment, some of them are not established on an evidence base and some of them may even be harmful. More knowledge in the future may turn out to show that they are quite harmful.

We have an ideological trust that says the State must be in charge of everything and there is no generosity in that. Remember, one third of the people voted against the destruction of innocent children in the repeal referendum. Are they not entitled to a model of healthcare that would guarantee excellent maternal care for women, including all life-saving and health-saving procedures? The religious orders always guaranteed that in their hospitals but without killing unborn children. A lot of non-believers would see the religious orders as potential champions of that ethos. That field has been abandoned.

I completely get it that the majority have a different view in this country. Senator Bacik will be elected as a Deputy next week, despite being an unremitting opponent of any protection for unborn babies down through the years. That is the fashion. I hope a day will come when there will be a more generous vision of healthcare that goes for excellence but protects everybody. It is a strange thing that it is the religious ethos that is seen by many people, believers and non-believers, as one of the few bulwarks against an aggressive statism that would target little babies in the womb and just treat it as a matter of rights.

I said the other day in the Seanad that we have some doctors who are only interested in the profit motive and who are not guided by any profound ethical procedures. You should be worried when you get highly skilled body mechanics in charge of the running of a hospital who are not moored to strong, ethical procedures about protecting the dignity of every single human being. You will reap the whirlwind of a statist mentality in healthcare. I get it though.

While the majority want something different, the national maternity hospital should not be under any religious ethos. The State is entitled to and should use compulsory purchase orders to guarantee that. I would prefer that unborn children were not being killed in a hospital under any kind of nominal patronage of the great St. Vincent and many people would share my view. There is an alternative vision for how excellent maternal care could be run. It is not on offer in this country but I hope the day would come when the State would provide the services and pay for them but that it would recognise that there are people who do things excellently but differently.