What is his name?

I thank all of the Deputies for the points that have been raised. In response to Deputy Tóibín, this Government has been very active in committing to a whole range of research, through the shared island project, ESRI and NESC. The first systematic and comprehensive research into North-South systems, be that education, health, enterprise and so forth, is of broad use to all of us who wish to share the island together into the future. It is the first time this has happened on a systematic basis. Deputies Haughey and …

Dáil statements to mark Europe Day have become an important fixture in our annual political calendar. This is not least a reminder of the democratic idea that is at the heart of the European Union and the shared values underpinning it. It was on 9 May 1950 that Robert Schuman set out his vision for a new form of co-operation in Europe. The historic Schuman Declaration invited a new beginning for the European Continent, one that would end generations of deeply destructive conflict and division and set the path to wh…

At the outset, I would like to say that my only motivation here, as Taoiseach, is to ensure we make a decision that provides a modern, world-class maternity and neonatal hospital and facility for the women of Ireland now and into the future and that will allow all services legally permissible in the State now and into the future to be provided to the women of Ireland. That is the objective and motivation I have as Taoiseach. However, I want to see it done. I do not like hanging around forever. We should get it righ…

What is Deputy McDonald's difficulty with a lease of 300 years, essentially, for €10 a year? Is that not, essentially, a gift of the land?

Of course, it is.

Sorry, it is. To all intents and purposes, it is 300 years at a tenner a year. What is the issue then? It will be operationally, financially and clinically independent. All of the legal documentation underpins that, that is, a variety of legal documents from the constitution of the hospital right across to the operating licence the HSE will be providing to the hospital, obliging it to provide all of the services legally permissible in the State. By the way, within those legal guarantees, there is a clear obligation…

My answer is that Deputy McDonald needs to come up with a more substantial argument than the one she has come up with because I am not clear at all-----

-----in terms of what the Deputy was saying in her presentation.

Deputy McDonald was not clear in terms of what she was quibbling with. Is she saying, for example, services will not be provided? It is not clear at all what Deputy McDonald is saying.

It was not.

Those words, "clinically appropriate", were imposed by the HSE in the legal document to make sure it would not be a cardiology hospital, a neurology hospital or whatever else. That is all that means.

It is not nonsense. The Deputy cannot just shout "Nonsense" across the floor. That is the reality. The golden share empowers the Minister to enforce the reserved powers within the constitution and the articles of association in terms of all available services. Do you think that Dr. Rhona O'Mahony, for example, a former master of Holles Street hospital, is making this up? Do you think that Dr. Cliona Murphy, the clinical director of the HSE's national women and infants help programme, is making it up?

They are articulating very strong support for this. Or Mary Brosnan, director of midwifery and nursing at the National Maternity Hospital. Up to 52 clinicians who work in Holles Street are saying this should go ahead.

They are saying this deal-----

I think women would trust clinicians maybe more than lawyers in terms of a maternity hospital. I do not want to get into an argy-bargy across the floor of the House. My point is that clinicians are saying that we cannot tolerate any longer the substandard physical accommodation in Holles Street. All of us are saying that we all want it to happen quickly but not just now, let us go another few years, and do a compulsory purchase order, CPO. How long would that take? Is the Opposition seriously suggesting that 300 ye…

Explain how it does. It does not. Deputy Bacik, who is a person of far greater legal reputation and expertise than my good self, knows deep down that 300 years at a cost of €10 per year is essentially public ownership by another name.

The real issue that was raised legitimately was the State's interest in this and guaranteeing that women will have access to all services that are legally permissible. That was a core issue that was raised some time ago around the whole proposal for co-location. That happened many years ago for the reason I have given, which is that people think that is the way to get the best outcomes. The issue of women being entitled to all services has been comprehensively guaranteed in the constitution of the new hospital, in …

-----and I think the balance has now swung very strongly in favour of needing to provide modern, state-of-the-art facilities for the women of this country.

Women will have that access. That is my point. Women will have that access under these agreements. The Deputy has not pointed out how the 300-year lease at €10 a year will undermine the interests of women-----