I propose to take Questions Nos. 239 and 240 together.
The Deputy will be aware that I am fully committed to the development of the new maternity hospital on the St Vincent's campus and to ensuring that care in the new hospital will be delivered without religious, ethnic or other distinction. The Deputy can therefore be assured that the full range of women’s healthcare services will be carried out at the new hospital.
Considerable work has been undertaken to develop a legal framework to protect the State's significant investment in the new hospital and to ensure that the new hospital building will remain in State ownership. My Department is engaging with the hospitals with a view to agreeing and finalising the details of the legal framework.