Sir, – It appears once again that there is disagreement in Cabinet over the proposal to move the Holles Street maternity hospital to the St Vincent campus and that the process is on hold due to questions about what statutory health care services will be available to women (“Maternity plan suspended by Ministers”, May 4).
After years of procrastination, the Government continues to kick the can down the road and will inevitably have to go back to the drawing board again.
God help the women of Ireland! – Yours, etc.
TADHG McCARTHY,
Bray,
County Wicklow.
Sir, It is significant that it is women who occupy important positions in our society, such as HSE board members Dr Deirdre Madden and Dr Sarah McLoughlin, Mayor of Dublin Alison Gilliland and government ministers Helen McEntee, Catherine Martin, Heather Humphreys and Hildegarde Naughton, who are prominent in expressing reservations about the National Maternity Hospital plan.
Their voices represent not only their own personal convictions, but also those of the women of Ireland.
The men who improvised this unfortunate plan beware! yours etc.
BRENDAN BUTLER,
tamborchondra,
Dublin 9.
Sir: In the next general election, I will vote for the political party that promises to build all future state hospitals and schools on state land. – Yours, etc.
Finbar Kearns,
piercetown,
Co Wexford.
Sir: Imagine if you were planning to build a house that would cost you €800 million and instead of owning the house and the land it would sit on, the owner offered you a 299 year lease. Furthermore, he wanted to keep his opinion on how his new house would be run after he paid for it.
No homeowner in their right mind would consider such an arrangement, so why is the State considering such an arrangement for the National Maternity Hospital? – Yours, etc.
ROB SADLIER,
ratfarnham,
Dublin 16.
Sir, With the National Children’s Hospital and the National Broadband Plan monumentally over budget, with huge delays, it’s hard not to think about the construction of St. Vincent’s Private Hospital, a magnificent facility that arrived on budget and on time. .
I agree that the religious should have nothing to do with running the new National Maternity Hospital, but perhaps we should consider letting them build it. – Yours, etc.
EAMON FARRELL,
sandy mount,
Dublin 4.
Sir, It was exhausting to read James Menton’s letter (May 4), which seemed to have been written with the intention of offering some reassurance to those who had concerns about how St Vincent’s Healthcare Group would manage the new National Maternity Hospital, from the who is president.
May I humbly suggest that if the hospital comes under full State ownership, control and management, most fears in this regard will quickly dissipate?
People want a health service that is easily accessible to all, operates solely for the common good, and is free from the distractions of “isms” and profit.
Why do some find that so difficult to understand? – Yours, etc.
JIM O’SULLIVAN,
ratedmond,
Sligo.
Reference-www.irishtimes.com