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Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD has said today’s announcement by the Minister for Health in relation to the proposed arrangements for ownership and control of the new National Maternity Hospital still leaves important questions unanswered.
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“Ultimately, what today’s announcement means is that the public will still pay around €350million for a new State hospital to be run by a private company which will be a 100 per cent subsidiary of the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group.”
Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD has said today’s announcement by the Minister for Health in relation to the proposed arrangements for ownership and control of the new National Maternity Hospital still leave important questions unanswered.
Deputy Shortall said:
“The Minister for Health today offered fresh assurances about the ownership and control of the new National Maternity Hospital, but has failed to provide the legal details and documents to back these up. Given the controversial history of this project, it is important to reserve judgment until the legal frameworks are published in the new year.
“Ultimately, what today’s announcement means is that the public will still pay around €350million for a new State hospital to be run by a private company which will be a 100 per cent subsidiary of the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group.
“While the Minister says he is confident that the new hospital will be clinically and operationally independent, it would be naïve to take this on face value until we see more detail about the board of the new company, which will largely be made up of nominees of Holles Street and St Vincent’s.
“And surely it is premature for the Minister to hail the new hospital as a landmark world class facility when so many important questions remain in relation to the environmental standards of the building.”
ENDS
20th December 2018
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