The Minister of Health says the National Maternity Hospital will be “independent” due to the delay in the decision to relocate.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly explained that the decision to postpone the final approval of the new National Maternity Hospital plan was to maintain openness and transparency without respecting the Oireachtas Commission.

Donnelly talked about RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland and said the Oily Chatas Health Commission had asked for details of the agreement before signing.

Given the reproductive health of women and the uncertain history of the Church, the minister said it was no mistake that his colleagues expressed concern. But he warned, “I can’t lose track of how important this is.”

He said the new National Maternity Hospital had been in the pipeline for nine years, during which time the women at Holles Street Hospital were in a 14-bed ward and had to line up for toilets and bathrooms while working.

“Genuine concern”

There was a “very positive debate” on this issue in the Cabinet, where many ministers expressed “true concerns.”

Donnelly said the new hospital will be completely operational and clinically independent and will provide all domestic legally permitted services such as retirement, tubal ligation, sex reassignment surgery and assisted reproductive technology. Said.

Due to concerns about transparency, the Cabinet agreed that the way forward would be to pay attention to the agreement and then open the document to the public.

All services will be provided in the new hospital, he repeated, which was guaranteed by a driver’s license. He said people wanted a sense of security that there was no religious influence. There are no religious orders on the board of directors of the new hospital.

The Vatican had nothing to do with the transfer.

He said the transfer of land from the order to the state was completed last week. When asked about the Vatican’s views on the transfer, the minister said, “The Vatican had nothing to do with the transfer.”

The land was currently under debt for 299 years. According to Donnelly, it didn’t matter who owned the land, it was more important who owned and operated the hospital. Under the 2016 Mulvey Agreement, there was a legal structure involving two independent hospitals and states to create a world-class health campus.

“I wanted to publish the document because it’s a complex structure.”

The new maternity hospital building will be state-owned on land owned by one of the voluntary hospitals. He added that the National Maternity Hospital is a voluntary hospital.

The minister admitted that he did not want to sell or donate the land to the country when the order was asked to do so. But the conversation about who owned the land was a bright red herring, he said.

Donnelly said the country did not own land under any other hospital in the country. He said that services such as selective tubal ligation, assisted reproductive technology, and “all services” will be available at the new National Maternity Hospital, which is completely independent and obliged to provide them under them. A license that says “yes, 100%” can be guaranteed.

“If for some reason they do not do that, the Minister of Health can intervene directly to ensure that all services are provided. We can give you an absolute solid guarantee (all). We guarantee that the service will be provided). “

He said the project was one of the most important in the state’s history, including healthcare.