Sir, – It seems yet again that there is disagreement in Cabinet about the proposal to relocate the maternity hospital at Holles Street to the St Vincent's campus and that the process is put on hold over doubts about what legal healthcare services will be available to women ("Maternity hospital plan put on hold by Ministers", May 4th).
After years of procrastination, the Government keeps kicking the can down the road and will inevitably have to go back to the drawing board again.
God help the women of Ireland! – Yours, etc,
TADHG McCARTHY,
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Bray,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – It is significant that it is women holding important positions in our society, like the HSE board members Dr Deirdre Madden and Dr Sarah McLoughlin, the Lord Mayor of Dublin Alison Gilliland, and Government Ministers Helen McEntee, Catherine Martin, Heather Humphreys and Hildegarde Naughton, who are to the fore in voicing reservations about the National Maternity Hospital plan.
Their voices represent not alone their own personal convictions but also those of the women of Ireland.
Let the men who cobbled together this ill-fated plan beware!– Yours, etc,
BRENDAN BUTLER,
Drumcondra,
Dublin 9.
Sir, – In the next general election, I will vote for the political party that promises to build all future State hospitals and schools on State land. – Yours, etc,
FINBAR KEARNS,
Piercestown,
Co Wexford.
Sir, – Imagine if you were planning to build a house which was going to cost you €800 million, and instead of owning the house and the land on which it would sit outright, you were offered a 299-year lease by the landowner who, in addition, wanted to retain a say in how your new house would be run after you paid for it.
No sane homeowner would entertain such an arrangement, so why is the State entertaining such an arrangement for the National Maternity Hospital? – Yours, etc,
ROB SADLIER,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.
Sir,– With the National Children’s Hospital and the National Broadband Plan both monumentally over budget, with huge delays, it is hard not to think back to the building of St Vincent’s Private Hospital, a superb facility which came in under budget and on time.
I would agree that the religious should have nothing to do with the running of the new National Maternity Hospital, but perhaps we should consider letting them build it? – Yours, etc,
EAMON FARRELL,
Sandymount,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – It was exhausting reading James Menton's letter (May 4th), which appeared to have been written with the intention of offering some reassurance to those with concerns about how the new National Maternity Hospital would be run by the St Vincent's Healthcare Group, of which he is chairman.
May I humbly suggest that if the hospital is placed under the total ownership, control, and management of the State, most fears in this regard would be quickly allayed?
The people want a health service that is readily accessible to all, operates solely for the common good, and is free from the distractions of “isms” and profit-making.
Why do some find that so difficult to comprehend?– Yours, etc,
JIM O’SULLIVAN,
Rathedmond,
Sligo.