Social Democrats Cllr for Greystones District, Jodie Neary has called on people in Wicklow to attend an upcoming National Maternity rally to be held outside Leinster House at 2pm on Saturday May 14th. The event is being organised by the Campaign Against Church Ownership of Women’s Healthcare organisation.
Speaking on the event, Cllr Neary said “it’s crucial that as many people as possible from Wicklow come out to show their support of the rally against the upcoming deal to transfer the National Maternity Hospital to a subgroup of the Sisters of Mercy. Currently, the move as it stands would mean St. Vincent Holdings, a charity sub-group of the Sisters of Mercy, will own the land and have some influence now or in the future over the operation of the new hospital.
“People in Wicklow voted overwhelmingly for repeal, and many have visited the current National Maternity Hospital so are aware of the need of a new maternity hospital. However, what the public want is a hospital that is fit for purpose, has the right governance structures in place and is fully owned by the state.
“Women have lost a huge amount of trust in the health system due to terrible governance and clinical decisions in the past. We have a huge number of scandals involving women’s health which is why so many are questioning the circumstances relating to this current move by government.
“We simply cannot allow €1 billion of public money to be handed over to a religious charity. It’s as if we haven’t learned the lessons of the past. The government has done nothing to restore women’s trust in the healthcare system and the whole handling of this process has eroded the little trust that remained even further. At the very least, women deserve full transparency and accountability from this government about such a significant public investment in women’s healthcare.
“We in the Social Democrats will settle for nothing less than a public and secular new National Maternity Hospital. I am urging people to join us and the many organisations involved, to support the call to stop the deal” concludes Cllr Neary.
