Professor Sean Daly

Now, I wasn't part of the negotiations, but I understand it was inserted by the department, said that the management, the senior management of a hospital can decide to allow private practice in certain circumstances.

And it's as plain and as simple as that.

So there was a discretionary aspect to the contract and consultants asked, can we see private patients?

And the hospital had gone out.

I had gone out, as I said, with the two other masters and Dr. O'Riordan representing Cork to go into the department at 2023 to try and explain that pregnancy is different.

And we didn't get anywhere.

But the hospital had always said pregnancy is different.

Women's choice needs to be allowed.

And that's why I think the board took the decision.

And we got Arthur Cox to say, was it a legal interpretation of the contract?

And it absolutely is.

Well, so the minister has come out and discussed the service level agreement that we had.

I don't think she or her, the department, have actually questioned the contract.

They've said that the hospital signs a contract, which we do on an annual basis with the HSE to provide service.

And that's where we get 90% of our funding.

And they had taken a legal opinion to say that they could enforce aspects of the contract through the SLA.

Now, you know, I'm not a lawyer.

It's not down to me to discuss the nuances of the legal interpretation of things.

But it got to a point, Clare, that...

that potentially the health of women and children was going to be compromised by the board's decision.