RELOCATING the proposed new National Maternity Hospital (NMH) cannot be ruled out in the interests of ensuring women’s healthcare is free of religious influence, a Clare TD has said.
Plans to move the facility from Holles Street to a site beside St Vincent’s Hospital have been bogged down in controversy over governance and ownership.
Deputy Violet Anne Wynne told The Champion that if a move to co-locate the new facility with Tallaght Hospital has to be considered, it should be.
“The new hospital has been in the pipeline since the 1990s and it has been in the Programme for Government since 2013,” she outlined.
“Maternal healthcare and women’s healthcare generally must be provided by the State, without interference or influence from outside the public realm.”
Deputy Wynne’s comments came as thousands attended a rally outside Leinster House last Saturday afternoon over the ongoing ownership of the new site by Religious Sisters of Charity.
The order previously said it intends to gift the site to the Irish people, with ownership transferred to a new independent body, St Vincent’s Holdings.
However, critics have questioned the independence of that organisation and raised concerns that procedures such as tubal ligation, terminations and gender reassignment may be banned under its Catholic ethos.
Countering those assertions, more than 40 senior clinicians at the NMH sent a letter to The Irish Times on Monday, describing any suggestions that their work could be curtailed as “misinformation”.
Despite that, Deputy Wynne described concerns over the ethos of the future NMH as “very legitimate”.
“The issue won’t be resolved until the site is in the ownership of the State and governance is clearly outlined,” she said.
“If a move to a different site is needed to guarantee woman-led models of care, then so be it.”
Speaking in the Dáil during a Social Democrats’ motion seeking clarity on the matter, Deputy Wynne was sharply critical of Ireland’s track record on maternal healthcare.
“The maternity sector in this country has been critically and consistently understaffed for many years,” she said.
“We have one of the lowest levels of consultant obstetricians and gynaecologists in the OECD, which is shameful. Maternity services have been pockmarked by multiple investigations and inquiries into care, standards and practices.
“The State must own the land,” she added. “A 100-year lease is not good enough. Follow-through and action needs to be taken to ensure respect and independence from religious influence for our mothers and babies is now needed.”