The board of the new Tallaght hospital has not discussed the submission of the Adelaide Hospital Society to the Working Group on Abortion, and did not make any submission of its own.
A spokeswoman for the board told The Irish Times yesterday that it would discuss the findings of the working group when they were published.
In its submission to the Working Group on Abortion, the society proposed a comprehensive network of services for women with crisis pregnancies, including abortion up to eight weeks gestation when medically indicated. This should include such facilities in the new Tallaght hospital, it said.
The Adelaide is one of four hospitals which will merge to form the new hospital at Tallaght. The other are the Meath, the National Children's Hospital in Harcourt Street, and St Loman's Psychiatric Hospital.
This submission will be viewed as just one from many thousands submitted to the Government Working Group on Abortion, the Minister for Health, Mr Cowen, said yesterday. The Minister was speaking at a meeting of SIPTU nurses in Tralee.
Mr Cowen also said it would be early next year before the Government would make any decision on abortion.
When questioned about the society's submission, Mr Cowen said he did not mind submissions becoming public but he would not comment further on the details of that submission.
Asked about the weight of that particular submission, Mr Cowen said it would have the same sway as any other institution.
Mr Cowen said the report from the Working Group on Abortion was "nowhere near" finalised yet. The group had received more than 2,000 submissions from individuals, groups, hospitals and church societies, he said. "We have not even got to the first phase. There will then have to a public debate on the broad issues involved."
He said the Government had already set out how it was going to proceed. The Green Paper would seek to "crystalise" the issues in relation to abortion and there would be subsequent public discussion. "During the summer we will have deliberation from the working group."
He added that there would then be a public debate on the issue.
The working group is expected to complete the Green Paper in June. It will then be referred to the All-Party Committee on the Constitution and will eventually lead to a White Paper.