The board of the National Maternity Hospital has passed a motion re-endorsing the agreement for it to move to the St Vincent's Hospital campus.
It has also welcomed the St Vincent's Healthcare Group statement yesterday.
The decision was made this evening by a majority of members after a three-and-a-half hour meeting of the board.
The board of Holles Street has passed a motion re-endorsing the agreement for it to move to the St Vincent's Hospital campus pic.twitter.com/VzOEgu1cpc
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) April 26, 2017
The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Brendan Carr, was among some board members who disagreed with the motion.
Board member and Sinn Féin Councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha said there had been intense discussion at the meeting about the November agreement.
He said there was no proposal before the meeting that Dr Peter Boylan resign from the board and he remains a member.
Mr MacDonncha said he had concerns regarding ownership of the new hospital and wanted a meeting with the Minister for Health.
Earlier, Mr MacDonncha said he no longer had confidence in the agreement made between the hospitals and said it must be reviewed.
Speaking on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, he said "whatever confidence I had in the agreement is almost completely gone now".
Tonight the board of the National Maternity Hospital issued a statement saying it "welcomed yesterday’s statement from the SVUH and has re-endorsed its commitment to the agreement mediated by Kieran Mulvey in November last".
The statement added: "This agreement provides that the clinical, financial and operational independence of the National Maternity Hospital at Elm Park DAC shall be enshrined in its memorandum and articles of association and all related legal agreements."
Last week it emerged that the Religious Sisters of Charity is to be given ownership of the new €300m taxpayer-funded National Maternity Hospital because it owns the land on which it is to be built on the St Vincent's Hospital campus in Elm Park in Dublin.
Former master of the National Maternity Hospital Dr Boylan is refusing to resign from the board after publicly criticising the planned move to the St Vincent's campus and the deal to give ownership of the new hospital to the Religious Sisters of Charity.
The current Master, Dr Rhona Mahony, has reiterated that the religious order would not be involved in the operation or running of the hospital, which she said would be independent.
Ministers agreed at Cabinet this morning that the new hospital should proceed and Minister for Health Simon Harris should be given the space to resolve outstanding issues.
It is understood that Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald and Minister of State Finian McGrath spoke out strongly in favour of Dr Mahony.
Minister Harris today called for a "period of calm" to allow the boards of the National Maternity Hospital and the St Vincent's Hospital Group to meet before further engagement over the new hospital.
He said this would allow him and his department the opportunity to further engage with the hospitals on the issue.
Mr Harris said he would come back to the Cabinet, the Health Committee and the Irish people by the end of May updating them on the status of the hospital.
The Government decided in 2013 to build the hospital and now in 2017 women are still being cared for in inadequate facilities, he said.
Mr Harris welcomed the statement yesterday from the St Vincent's Hospital Group saying it is very clear and categoric in terms of the clinical independence of the hospital.
He also welcomed comments by Dr Mahony today in which she made it "extraordinarily clear" that she and her clinician colleagues would have absolute independence.
"There's a reason the St Vincent's site was chosen. It wasn't plucked from the air. Co-location is so important for women who need emergency care. This is part of the co-location of the Coombe, the Rotunda and Holles Street."
Labour's Alan Kelly has said Mr Harris should answer questions about the controversy in the Dáil next Tuesday, saying the minister needs to give further clarity on the deal that was done last November.
Mahony says ownership a technical detail
Dr Mahony has said that the agreement reached for locating the new maternity hospital at St Vincent's is unequivocal, that the hospital will be entirely independent, and that that is written down in black and white.
She said the ethos of the hospital will be clinical excellence and that contraception, IVF services, and abortions will be carried out when necessary.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, she said that abortions will be carried out, without hesitation, if needed to save a woman's life.
Asked if a woman wants to be sterilised, out of personal need, Dr Mahony said it will be done.
She stressed that nuns will not be involved in the operation or running of the hospital.
The fundamental principle during the mediation process for the National Maternity Hospital, currently based in Holles Street, was that it would retain its independence and autonomy, she said.
It was important to locate the hospital on the St Vincent’s campus because they want patients to have access to the wide range of services available there, Dr Mahony added.
Dr Rhona Mahony says the new National Maternity Hospital will be ‘entirely independent’ of any ‘religious ethnic or other distinction’ pic.twitter.com/MUoCXPsiqm
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) April 26, 2017
Dr Mahony said the ownership is a technical detail.
She said the new maternity hospital will not be practising in St Vincent’s Hospital but on the campus. This, she said, was in the agreement and there is no doubt about this.
When asked if former master Dr Boylan should resign from the hospital board, she said that was a matter for him.
She said the text sent by Dr Boylan to her and the vice chairperson of the board was quite intimidating.
Dr Mahony said that Dr Boylan was entitled to his opinion but that ordinarily someone would resign from the board before expressing an opposing opinion.
Dr Mahony and Deputy Chairman of the National Maternity Hospital board Nicholas Kearns called for Dr Boylan to quit the board, after his public criticism of the deal to move to the St Vincent's campus.
The clinical director of the hospital, Dr Declan Keane, has said he would have liked more consultation on whether Dr Boylan should have been asked to quit.
Proposed board a 'forced marriage'
Meanwhile, a former Master of the Coombe Hospital has said there are concerns about the governance and ownership of the National Maternity Hospital.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Sean O'Rourke, Professor Chris Fitzpatrick described the proposed board of the new hospital as a "forced marriage" or power-sharing assembly.
He said the hospital is needed and needs to go on the St Vincent's Hospital campus quickly but added there are still questions that need to be answered before that happens.
People needed to be there for a common purpose, he said, and not to represent various interest groups.
Professor Fitzpatrick said the generosity of St Vincent's Healthcare Group and the Order must be acknowledged, but said they could go one step further and relinquish control of the land to the State.
