St Rita's respite certainty
Deputy Mattie McGrath sought certainty for families relying on St. Rita’s respite centre in Clonmel over the summer. The Taoiseach said he would follow up with the HSE and try to get more information for the Deputy.
I would like to return to the issue of the National Maternity Hospital. The Taoiseach's earlier response was that a memo has not gone to Cabinet yet. He said that when it does, it will then go to the committee or the Dáil. I would like the Taoiseach to be very clear to me now. When it goes to the committee or the Dáil, will the decision have been made by Cabinet?
In his reply, the Taoiseach talked about the delay. All of the women in this House, as well as male Deputies, are unhappy with the delay but it was not caused by debate or questions raised in the Dáil which actually led to a better outcome in terms of clarifying matters on foot of what was raised with us by concerned doctors. The Taoiseach went on about delays but where are we at with this? Is it a foregone conclusion now, notwithstanding our concerns, three motions passed unanimously by the Dáil and the concerns of the two female dissenters on the board? Most specifically, is it open to change when it comes before the Dáil?