Sinn Féin TD welcomes Government's decision not to relocate Rotunda Hospital

Vivienne Clarke

Sinn Féin health spokesperson David Cullinane has welcomed the government’s confirmation that the Rotunda hospital will not be co-located with Connolly Hospital, but accused the Minister for Health of “essentially” abandoning the plan that never "got off the ground.”

“The Minister has now put to bed an issue that has been essentially an anchor around the neck of the Rotunda Hospital for far too long. It has held back progress, held back investment, and obviously, now there is clarity on the policy side that the Rotunda site will remain the site for the maternity hospital,” he told RTÉ radio’s Today with David McCullagh show.

“Obviously, now the emphasis has to switch to the investment which is needed and the new development which is crucial to ensure safe services for women in Dublin and in that area, particularly.”

Cullinane called on “all of the stakeholders”, from the HSE, the Department of Health, the Rotunda Hospital, and Dublin City Council to examine a new planning application.

There also needed to be certainty about funding and “very clear time frames and timescales.”Cullinane also said that plans for the Rotunda’s sexual assault unit needed to be revamped.