Donnelly: 'Misinformation' campaign putting maternity hospital project in jeopardy
Stephen Donnelly, the health minister: He said that provision of all legal procedures including terminations was 'a red line issue' for him. Picture: Damien Storan.
A campaign of "misinformation" is putting the new National Maternity Hospital project in jeopardy, the Stephen Donnelly, the health minister has said.
During statements in the Dáil on the hospital, MrDonnelly said 52 clinicians working at the National Maternity Hospital wrote to him and the Taoiseach and "expressed real concern about what they called 'the misinformation and misunderstanding' that they said was disturbing their staff and patients and, potentially, putting this essential project — certainly the timing of it — in jeopardy".
The planned relocation of the hospital from Dublin’s Holles Street to a site at Elm Park, co-located with St Vincent’s Hospital, has been mired in controversy linked to governance and ownership issues.
That land is owned by the Religious Sisters of Charity order. However, Mr Donnelly said that provision of all legal procedures, including terminations, "is a red line issue for me as Minister for Health".
Opposition TDs criticised Mr Donnelly's speech for, in the words of Sinn Féin's David Cullinane, "not saying anything new".
His party colleague Louise O'Reilly said she had come to the debate "hoping to get some questions answered and I have not learned anything beyond what I knew when I came in".
Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall said it was unacceptable that any hospital would be under any religious influence and that it was "particularly obnoxious" that the minister would "consider doing that with a maternity hospital".
"We are no longer talking about co-location, but about a takeover. This is a full takeover of our National Maternity Hospital by St Vincent's. That is utterly unacceptable."
TDs also criticised the Government for not having any female speakers during the statements. People Before Profit's Bríd Smith said she was "intrigued that there is not a single female member of the three Government parties here to talk about this issue".
"There is not a single one. They might all have had to go home and mind the kids. I do not know, but I think it would have been appropriate for at least one or two of them to be here to defend this issue."
Independent TD Catherine Connolly said: "There is not a substance strong enough to calm me down after listening to the nature of this debate. We have used every possible democratic procedure to bring pressure to bear on the Government to have a debate and, when we have the debate, not a single female TD from the Government side comes in to participate."
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