I call the leader of Sinn Féin, Deputy McDonald. She has one minute.

Back in May 2017, Sinn Féin brought forward a motion in respect of the national maternity hospital. At that time, and since, very serious questions have been raised about the ownership and governance of this new national facility. I am absolutely astounded that four years later we do not have a straight answer from Government in respect of ownership of this new national maternity hospital. I put it to the Taoiseach that it would be unthinkable that hundreds of millions of euro in public money would be invested in a hospital that was not fully owned by the State. I put it to him also that the Religious Sisters of Charity must be asked, as a matter of urgency, to transfer freehold ownership of that site lock, stock and barrel to the State with no strings attached. I further put it to the Taoiseach that any question, licence or mechanism that would open up any prospect of so-called ethos intruding on the provision of healthcare for women and neonates must be roundly rejected.

Can the Taoiseach confirm for us that we will have a full transfer of it to the State urgently?

I cannot confirm that right now. This has been a long saga, as the Deputy knows. It was first announced in 2013 that the new national maternity hospital was to co-locate with St. Vincent's University Hospital. Since then, there seems to have been a protracted dispute between the two voluntary hospitals. Kieran Mulvey facilitated mediation in 2016. That mediation agreement was published. None of this should be new to people. References were made to leasing and so on, as was well known at the time. When the State is investing in and building a hospital, it should ideally own it. The State will own the hospital but there is an issue with regard to the freehold of the site. The Minister for Health will be engaging with stakeholders in that respect. Planning permission for the hospital was secured in 2017. Enabling works were carried out with regard to the car park and pharmacy. This is all public knowledge. The Minister will now engage with the St. Vincent's Healthcare Group and the Religious Sisters of Charity on the issue of ownership. There is no question of the ethos being in any way influenced by any religious organisation.

I would like to tease this out a little bit further because I did not get much from the Taoiseach's answer to Deputy McDonald. To be honest, the Taoiseach did not answer the question. The Taoiseach keeps saying that this is going to be owned by the State. If that is the case, why is the Minister going to talk to the Sisters of Charity? A deadline will have to be set at some stage. Does the Taoiseach accept what his Tánaiste said a few days ago, which is that we may potentially have to look at a new site? Or will the Taoiseach set some sort of deadline for these negotiations so that they do not evolve over a long period of time? The Labour Party and I have suggested three months. If not, the land will have to be acquired by way of compulsory purchase order, CPO. We have to deal with this one way or the other. The Taoiseach cannot just stand up and say that it will be owned by the State when we all know of the issues regarding ownership of the land and governance. These issues go hand in hand. We need to own the land. The Taoiseach should either set a deadline or acquire the land by way of CPO.

Is Deputy Kelly serious about a CPO? How long does he think that would last?

It should have been done years ago.

We all need to get real now.

I suggested a CPO in 2017.

The project was announced in 2013. Yes, ownership is a key issue but I do not believe in any shape or form that the governance will be influenced by any religious organisation. Those who have been involved with that aspect of the project have been very clear about that. We would not tolerate it. All services legally provided in the State will be facilitated in this new hospital. However, I do have an issue. When the State invests, the State should own it from then onwards but that is not where we have arrived at.

Absolutely. We are depending on the Pope.

This situation has arisen as a result of the two hospitals being co-located----

This has been going on for a decade.

-----and the imperative that women in this country get modern healthcare provision. While fantastic work is done in Holles Street, the situation there is not optimal. We all know that co-location is the optimal situation.

This could go on forever.

The Taoiseach has just told Deputy Kelly to get real. The Taoiseach has to get real. The women of Ireland will not accept a maternity hospital that does not provide the full complement of healthcare services we need. The Taoiseach has said that he does not believe the governance is an issue. Is he aware that at the moment one cannot get IVF treatment or sterilisation procedures in St. Vincent's University Hospital? Why then does he believe that will change in the maternity hospital? There has been absolutely no indication from the Government on what safeguards it will put in place because there are no safeguards that can be put in place. The Catholic Church will not allow terminations to occur on land it owns. It is time for the Taoiseach, the Minister for Health and the Government to get real. We cannot afford to make the same mistakes again. We just cannot afford to do it and women will not allow it to happen.

Let us be fair here. The Deputy should not put words into my mouth. The Minister for Health has inherited this situation and is dealing with it. First of all, there has to be stronger public interest on the board. The current structure in terms of the membership of the board is not satisfactory. Second, in my view, when the State is investing, the State should own. Third, I am simply saying to the Deputy that those who have been involved in the negotiations to date are absolutely adamant that there will be no influence by any religious ethos and, in particular, the Catholic church or the Sisters of Charity will have no influence - good, bad or indifferent - whatsoever in terms of this national maternity hospital. They are very clear about that.

They are pulling the wool over your eyes, Taoiseach.

There is an ownership issue in terms of when the State is investing such substantial sums of money. It will own the hospital but it will not, as it currently stands, own the site itself and that is a problem.

On the same issue, it is extraordinary that within five days the national discourse on this has utterly changed. In recent years I have asked the Taoiseach; the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly; the Minister of State, Deputy Butler; and the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, about this issue and on each occasion I have been assured that I can move on as there is nothing to be seen or worry about. However, when I asked the Tánaiste about it last Thursday, he reinforced the absolute need for the State to fully own and control the new national maternity hospital. We welcome the fact that the Government will not oppose the motion to be proposed by the Social Democrats tomorrow but the arguments over the costs and the legal complexity involved in the land deal cannot deflect from the essential goal of a fully State-owned, State-run and State-controlled national maternity hospital. Will the Taoiseach respond to the statement of Dr. Peter Boylan that this issue is a test of the State's resolve with regard to who owns critical health infrastructure built with public funds? If we do not do it now, then when? What was Sláintecare all about? Why did the Taoiseach and his Ministers repeatedly assure the House there was no problem with this, given that the Tánaiste differed with them last week?

I certainly cannot recall giving the Deputy any assurance about anything because the Government has not signed off on anything in relation to this. It is a pity that the issue was not raised on Leaders' Questions because the shortness of time to reply on the Order of Business does not allow one to give a more comprehensive account. As far as I am concerned, there is one very significant issue here, which is the safety of women in particular in terms of building a modern maternity hospital. I have often been struck by the fact that we have only managed this in one location, which is in Cork, where we have a modern maternity hospital with a neonatal facility. Everyone agreed way back that we should have co-location in terms of optimal best outcomes for women in particular and that is why the original idea of the national maternity hospital co-locating with St. Vincent's Hospital arose. I do not think people want to unwind that idea of co-location and that creates its own context for this. That said, nobody wants, in this day and age, a national maternity hospital built by the State to be influenced by any church.

I thank the Taoiseach.

It should not be. It should be out of the question.

I thank the Taoiseach.

We are clear that will be the case.

Five Deputies have asked about this issue. The Taoiseach has not given us an answer.

Time is up, please.

Previous Ministers have given that assurance, to be fair. The previous Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, gave that assurance to the House on repeated occasions. The Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly is giving that assurance.

The time is up.

We are clear on that aspect of it. There are certainly issues around the ownership of it and the representation of the State on the board. Those are issues that have to be addressed because of the level of State investment involved and the consequences for accountability as a result of that investment.

If the issue of ownership is addressed, so is that of control.