Latest: Varadkar 'sure' Harris will clarify who will own the new national maternity hospital

Latest: Dr Rhona Mahony, Master of the National Maternity Hospital, has released a statement.

Update 7.30pm: Dr Rhona Mahony, Master of the National Maternity Hospital, has released a statement.

"The new National Maternity Hospital to be built on the St Vincent's Healthcare campus will be dedicated solely to providing maternity care for women and infants. It will be operated by a new company with an independent board and will be clinically and operationally entirely independent in line with national maternity policy.

"Over 9,000 infants are born at NMH every year. The current facility is not fit for purpose. The co-location of this hospital with an adult tertiary hospital will revolutionise healthcare in Ireland for women and infants and we continue to work with SVHG to make a dedicated state of the art maternity hospital a reality as urgently as possible."