Maternity hospital to allow private practice on site despite Dáil motion

Ireland’s newest maternity hospital will conduct private healthcare business on its premises despite Health Minister Simon Harris voting to keep all business in the new facility public.

A private member’s bill set down on the matter in the Dáil by Fianna Fáil’s health spokesperson Stephen Donnelly in late June called for a guarantee from the Government that the new hospital, to be constructed on the site of St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin, would not have separate facilities for private patients.