Serious concerns remain over National Maternity Hospital – Labour

Concerns remain about the next stage in the development of the new National Maternity Hospital, opposition parties have said.

The decision on the site of the health facility will come before the Cabinet in two weeks’ time, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said at a briefing on Tuesday night.

He sought to respond to critics of the ownership arrangements for the long-delayed hospital by publishing legal documents on the HSE website and promising to take questions from the Oireachtas Health Committee.

The planned relocation of the hospital from Dublin’s Holles Street to a site at Elm Park alongside St Vincent’s Hospital, as well as its governance and ownership, has been the subject of controversy for some time.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said on Wednesday she welcomed the delay, but added: “There are still very serious and very valid concerns remaining around the ownership, control and governance of the new National Maternity Hospital.”

She said Mr Donnelly had not answered why “we can’t have a publicly-owned hospital on public land” instead of the “byzantine” legal arrangements outlined by the minister.

A 299-year lease will give the Irish state a proprietary interest in the land, with the HSE leasing the site for the hospital from St Vincent’s and owning the hospital itself.

Under the constitution of the new hospital, the Health Minister will not have day-to-day involvement but will have a so-called “golden share” in the company, allowing intervention to direct the board to ensure all maternity, gynaecological or neonatal care is provided if it proves necessary.

Mr Donnelly has stressed there is no “ambiguity” in the arrangements and that care for women will not be compromised.

But Ms Bacik told RTE radio the question of land ownership is not a “red herring”.

She said: “I think there are serious questions around control and governance.

“If the lease is to be so long, why not hand the land over to the state?

“If one looks at the documents that have been published, they still raise questions over the governance issue.

“I would like to see some clarity from the minister, why we can’t do a compulsory purchase order, to move this land into public ownership. That is really the core question at this point.”

Sinn Fein health spokesman David Cullinane backed the Cabinet decision.

He tweeted: “The decision by cabinet to cease making a decision on the National Maternity Hospital is the right one.

“All publications & materials relevant to the legal framework need to be published.

“I look forward to scrutiny of the proposals at Health Committee. We must get this right.”