Lord Mayor calls for State ownership of new National Maternity Hospital

The Lord Mayor of Dublin and member of the Board of the National Maternity Hospital, Brendan Carr, has called for the State to take ownership and full responsibility for the new hospital rather than it being handed from the control of one private group to another.

Brendan Carr said: “When I first raised serious concerns about the ownership of the new National Maternity Hospital, on behalf of the citizens of Dublin, it was related to the over €300 million of State monies being used to build a facility that was then being handed to a private organisation.

“While I welcome the historic statement today by the Sisters of Charity, that it intends to relinquish direct ownership of three hospitals, and as result also the future National Maternity Hospital, it does not deal with the key issue of massive State investment in an asset that will not be in public ownership.”

He added: “I think I am expressing the view of most Dubliners when I state that it does not make sense for public monies to be invested in facilities which are then one removed from full public oversight concerning their good governance.

“The Minister for Health, Simon Harris, is really out of touch when he claims that public concerns about the future of our publicly funded National Maternity Hospital have been allayed by the handing over of its ownership from one private organisation to another, whether they have charitable status or not.

“Once again I am calling on the Minister to address the real concerns of the public in relation to this situation by seeking a Compulsory Purchase Order for the land on which the National Maternity Hospital is to be built or by obtaining a 999-year lease on the site. Only by doing this, will he adequately deal with concerns regarding the full public ownership of the hospital and the need for the public control over its operation.”