Green Party Minister holds off on vote of National Maternity Hospital

A Green Party Minister has said that she will holds off on her vote concerning the planned National Maternity Hospital, despite her party's leader, Eamon Ryan, approving of the project.

Minister for Tourism Catherine Martin TD said that she will wait for feedback before giving her view on the controversial hospital, according to a recent article from the Irish Examiner.

A spokesperson for Minister Martin said: "It is of chief importance that the clinical independence of the National Maternity Hospital is crystal clear. Minister Martin awaits the observations that will be brought back to Government."

It has since been revealed that all Fine Gael ministers now support the 300-year lease plan, according to a spokesman for An Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, while An Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said they expect the plan to proceed.

Minister Donnelly will meet TDs and senators who have raised questions around the proposals before attending the Oireachtas health committee on Wednesday morning.

He previously said that there 'will be absolutely no ambiguity' regarding the clinical and operational independence of the new National Maternity Hospital in Dublin.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The planned hospital has been a point of contention, both in the Dáil and within an ever-increasing secular Irish society, for a number of years.

However, tensions once more arose again over the last week.

The Religious Sisters of Charity, who owned the site for the planned hispital, have now transferred their ownership to the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group, and if the relocation plan goes ahead, the State would lease the land for 299 years.

While the Government has stressed that all lawfully permitted procedures, including abortion and tubal ligation, will be allowed at the NMH, concerns still remain about whether the hospital will be completely free of church interference, which has been the centre of debate, particularly on social media.