Donnelly rang Leo over fears FG TDs didn’t back NMH deal
MINISTER of Health Stephen Donnelly phoned Leo Varadkar over concerns Fine Gael TDs and senators weren’t backing the National Maternity Hospital deal.
Mr Donnelly feared there was mounting opposition within Fine Gael to the plan to move the hospital from Holles Street to the St Vincent’s campus.
The phone call occurred on Tuesday evening, on the eve of Mr Donnelly’s appearance at the Oireachtas health committee yesterday, where he defended the proposed deal.
The Fianna Fáil minister also contacted others in Fine Gael who were critical of the deal in a bid to get their support. One Fine Gael politician told this newspaper that ‘Donnelly has never been helpful’ to the party’s TDs or senators during his time in office so he shouldn’t be surprised by the
‘Now he wants our help’
lack of support he was receiving. ‘He wouldn’t reply to a letter or a query from us all year, now he wants our help,’ they said.
Mr Donnelly brought a memo to Cabinet last week to sign off on the move but it was not approved by ministers.
Following an intervention from two Fine Gael ministers – Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys – along with Green Party deputy leader Catherine Martin, the decision was paused.
Opponents of the deal have raised concerns about the hospital’s governance and State ownership as well as a influence of the Catholic ethos. Mr Donnelly has repeatedly insisted there would be no Church influence.
Speaking at a private meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party last night Tánaiste Mr Varadkar said that he was happy to have a pause to allow the decision to be discussed in depth.
Mr Varadkar told the meeting that the Fine Gael ministers were right to seek a pause so that reassures could be provided. Sources at the meeting agreed that the Tánaiste’s comments amounted to instructing his party to back the deal.
The Oireachtas health committee wrote to Mr Donnelly last night seeking a further delay to allow further witnesses to be called. A spokesman for Mr Donnelly did not respond to a question asking whether he would accept the committee’s request.
Several senior Fianna Fáil TDs told this newspaper they believe some in Fine Gael are ‘deliberately undermining’ Mr Donnelly on the issue.
This has been denied at the highest levels of Fine Gael, who stressed there were ‘legitimate concerns’ among some members about the deal.
Fianna Fáil TDs and senators have said that the conduct of Fine Gael, and some in the Green Party, have caused serious tension in the Coalition.
One senior Fianna Fáil TD branded the continued opposition as ‘ridiculous’ last night. ‘I don’t know if they [Fine Gael] are angry the deal is better or that they couldn’t get it done when they were in power last time. It’s ridiculous at this stage, I don’t know how much more reassurance they can get,’ the TD said.