Paul Murphy urges public control and green specs for maternity hospital
Paul Murphy spoke in the Dáil about the new National Maternity Hospital, warning that land ownership by the religious sisters of charity and board control by St Vincent's Healthcare Group could impose a Catholic ethos and restrict services, and he called for a review and measures to secure public ownership and a secular board. He also raised urgent concerns about the hospital's energy standards, the Cootia Holiday Home operated by the Irish Wheelchair Association, and the reprofiling of roads funding under Project Ireland 2040.
Maternity hospital ownership and ethos
Paul Murphy said the religious sisters of charity own the land and the government is negotiating through St Vincent's Healthcare Group, which is to hold a majority on the hospital's board and chair it. He argued "ethos will follow ownership" and said it was unrealistic to expect a Catholic maternity hospital owned by the nuns' company to provide the full range of services such as contraception, sterilisation, abortion and IVF because these contravene the Catholic code. He called for a review of the contract agreed between the Minister for Health and the religious sisters of charity and proposed measures to bring the hospital into public ownership with a secular ethos and secular board of management.
Energy and carbon specifications
Murphy reported that the HSE told him the maternity hospital is being built to A3 standards and that expert advice shows this falls short of near zero energy building standards required for all new public buildings from 1 January 2020. He said the design reflects 2008 building regulations rather than 2019 regulations and warned that continuing with the current design will require retrofitting at up to ten times the cost of building to near-zero standards now. He urged urgent change while construction is ongoing.
Cootia Holiday Home and disability concerns
On the Cootia Holiday Home, Murphy noted it is operated by the Irish Wheelchair Association but not owned by them, and he acknowledged concerns from people with disabilities who used the home and from local communities about employment and the local economy. He said government grant aid would require a long-term lease to protect public investment and that he would raise the matter again with the Minister responsible for disability.
Roads funding, Project Ireland 2040 and rural concerns
Murphy clarified he referenced a Green Party motion, which Fianna Fáil voted for, calling for reprofiling funds away from roads towards public transport despite Project Ireland 2040 already favouring public transport two-to-one. He said Deputy Eamon Ryan raised the issue and criticised Fianna Fáil for backtracking and advancing what he called an anti-rural agenda - citing opposition to the national broadband plan, advocating cuts to the roads budget and moves that would end the burning of turf and wood in rural areas. He added that Project Ireland 2040 profiles are updated twice yearly at the budget and the summer economic statement and that an online tracker will be updated.
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Deputy Howlin made about the national maternity hospital ownership and management ethos. The religious sisters of charity own the land on which the new facility is built. The government is negotiating with them through their company, St Vincent's Healthcare Group. That group will have a majority on the national maternity hospital board of management and will chair the board. And the reality of things don't change is that women's health care is at risk as well as the state's finances. Ethos will follow ownership. It's unrealistic to expect a Catholic maternity hospital owned by the nuns company to provide a full range of services, including contraception, sterilisation, abortion, IVF, etc., because they contravene the Catholic code. And so I think it's necessary that there is a review of the contract agreed between the Minister of Health and the religious sisters of charity and proposal of measures to bring the hospital into public ownership with a secular ethos and secular board of management. A related point I want to raise, which also relates to the National Children's Hospital, is the question of the carbon emission specifications to which they are being built. I put a question to the Minister for Health and got an answer from the HSE that the maternity hospital is being built to A3 standards. And I got expert advice on that and it's clear that it's nowhere near the near zero energy building standards required for all new public buildings from the 1st of January 2020. In fact, the building has been designed to 2008 building regulations, not the current 2019 regulations. If they continue to build in the current way, it's going to need to be retrofitted at up to 10 times the cost of building it to near zero now from the outset, if indeed a deep retrofit is possible in a hospital. So I think that urgently needs to be changed while the building is ongoing. Thanks. Thanks, deputies for your questions. Just in relation to the Cootia Holiday Home, it's operated by the Irish Wheelchair Association, but isn't owned by them, as the deputy mentioned. I do acknowledge that there are real concerns from people with disabilities who have used the home in the past for their holidays and they want to continue to be able to do that. And of course, that local people are concerned too, because it does provide employment in the area and is a big part of the economy in the area. And of course, people don't want to lose that nor do we want to see it lost because it is a part of the country in which there aren't many other economic or employment opportunities, unfortunately. In terms of grant aid from government, we would need to know that there would be a long-term lease in place, as is always the case when it comes to government capital funding. You don't want to have a situation whereby you provide hundreds of thousands or billions of euros for works to be done only to find out a year or two later that the owner has decided to do something else with it. But I'm sure that can be resolved by means of a long-term lease being provided. And I will raise it again with Minister McGrath, who is the line minister responsible for disability. Deputy Martin referred to the whole issue of cutting back the roads budget and reprofiling the roads budget. Just in the interest of clarity, what I was referring to was a Green Party motion, which Fianna Fáil voted for, which called for the reprofiling of funds away from the roads to public transport, even though Project Ireland 2040 already favours public transport over roads in a two-to-one ratio. It's simply on the record of the Dáil that Fianna Fáil did vote for that motion to re-profile funding away from roads towards public transport. Deputy Eamon Ryan has raised it in leaders' questions and is concerned that Fianna Fáil backtracked so quickly on a motion that they voted for. Perhaps they didn't understand the motion they were voting for, but I do think it is part of an increasing anti-rural agenda by the Fianna Fáil party, opposing the national broadband plan, advocating that we cut back the roads budget and also going down a road which will end in the banning of the burning of turf and wood in rural areas, which Fianna Fáil seems to want to support, even though they don't seem to realise it. Of course, I do understand why they are doing it. They want the Greens to put them in office after the next general election. I totally understand the strategy behind that. But Fianna Fáil can't have two faces. They can't be cosying up to the Greens in Dublin and then pretending to be the party of rural Ireland when they are not in Dublin. And I am glad that we have been able to expose them on that. In relation to updating the profiles for Project Ireland 2040, that is done twice a year at the time of the budget and at the time of the summer economic statement. And there is an online tracker, which I accept is not up to date, but we will update it. I think Deputy Helen asked about the National Maternity Hospital. It is our policy that the hospital will be publicly owned and that the land that it is on will be in public control. I do think it is important, though, to acknowledge that the National Maternity Hospital, not too far from here, is a really good hospital and already has a Catholic ethos. The chairman of the board is the Archbishop of Dublin. Now, he does not attend, but it is already a hospital that has a Catholic ethos. And that has not prevented Hollis Street, the National Maternity Hospital, performing terminations and providing fertility treatment. So, you know, I think we should not get involved in unnecessary church bashing when it is not fair. And I do not think it is fair on this occasion. Work is being done already on the St. Vincent site. A new pharmacy is being built and works are happening on the car park. And those works have to be done before the National Maternity Hospital is built. It is intended that it shall go to tender in 2020. The Minister of Health is ambitious that we can get it started in 2020, but I think, at the very least, we will get it to tender in 2020, which, of course, is next year. In relation to the railway line to Maynooth, I will not irritate Deputy Burton by listing all the achievements that Fine Gael and Labour achieved together in the five years that we served in government. So, I will only mention the ones that were done by Fine Gael and the independent alliance and the independence in the last three and a half years in relation to the railway line to Maynooth. The first is that we now have on order new carriages for those railway lines. They are coming from Japan. They will be in service by 2021. And they will increase by 34 per cent the capacity on the Maynooth line, the Drogheda line and the Kildare line. It is now 2019. So, 2021 is just under two years' time. But they are on order. If they could come any quicker, they would. But no government can make carriages come from Japan any quicker, unfortunately, Deputy. So, it would not be any different if you are in government. I would have to double-check. But I think the new locomotives are now already on order as well. And those locomotives will be hybrids. They will be electric and diesel. And that allows us to shift on a phased basis from diesel to electric on that line. And also, we have approved €100 million in funding for the National Train Control Centre at Houston. And that allows us to organise us lots better and get more trains in and out of Houston Connelly which is a pinch point. So, it is a...
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