The Spat between the government and the Rotunda continues.
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Pat Kenny Show. With Timber Living Log Cabins. Saturday and Sunday from 10am on Newstalk. Conversation that counts.
Now, the spat between the government and the board of the Rotunda Hospital is continuing as the Taoiseach Micheál Martin warned the board to reflect on its decision. The spat originates from the hospital's decision not to fully implement the public-only consultant contract, allowing a small number of consultants on public contracts to provide private maternity care. It's reported that the hospital is making a stand on a matter of principle. Ellen Coyne is a political correspondent with the Irish Times and has been reporting extensively on this. And Ellen's on the line. Ellen, good morning. Good morning, Pat. And now yesterday we had Dr. Peter Boylan on the show and he was saying, like, this is unseemly.
What is the ongoing spat between the government and the Rotunda Hospital about?
It should be happening in private. Any meetings between the minister and the board, this should be sorted out quietly rather than this megaphone diplomacy. But that megaphone diplomacy seems to have intensified, if anything.
Yes, absolutely. I mean, certainly since Friday, when the board of the Rotunda Hospital had an extraordinary general meeting to consider the fact that, as I'm sure your listeners were aware, there was a week of some very serious threats being issued on the part of the state. There was discussions about funding for the hospital being withheld or withdrawn. Minister for Health Jennifer Carl McNeill was raising questions about the indemnity insurance that the state covers for the hospital.
Why did the Rotunda Hospital decide not to implement the public-only consultant contract?
And she was even suggesting that the Rotunda might owe refunds to women who have paid for private care with a public only consultant. So when the board met, it basically took the decision to stand by its position. It's trying to face down the government. It sought a meeting with Jennifer Carol McNeil, which is interesting because previously it had kind of been in discussions with the HSE rather than with the department. But in requesting that meeting, it said it wanted the opportunity to basically explain its position, not change its position. So yesterday, the Department of Health responded, the secretary general responded, not the minister, and effectively said that the minister will not be meeting and will not be agreeing to meet with the board of the Rotunda until it backs down.
Now, there's something quite Trumpian about the minister's response, you know, threatening the indemnity. I mean, if the indemnity for insurance went, the rotunda would have to shut down. And the vast majority of babies delivered in the rotunda are delivered by the public service. So this kind of bully boy tactics by the minister instead of conversation seem to me misplaced, arguing over, you know, of all things, pregnant women.
Well, I mean, yes, it is correct that without indemnity insurance, a maternity hospital can't operate. That's the very reason there is no such thing as a private maternity hospital in the country. And the issue is institutions as a whole are indemnified. So if there's one consultant who's breaking their contract, you can't take the insurance away from them. You have to take it away from the hospital as a whole. Now, all she said was that there was questions over the insurance status. And we know that's a threat.
That's a threat. That's not just a comment. That's a threat.
But I suppose the other point I would make, or maybe might be made, is that while there's been a lot happening in public over the last two weeks since Professor Daly appeared before the Oireachtas Committee, there were a lot of conversations between Daly and Carol McNeill over the course of the last year. Apparently, there was actually a warning issued this time last year to the government that the Rotunda had adopted a position where it would be doing things differently. And we also found out last week that actually apparently the board of the Rotunda made a decision to defy slanted care as far back as September 2024. So while I know everything has kind of come out in the open very quickly over the last week in particular, this is something that's actually been it's been a debate that's been going on as far back as 2023.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:46
2
What is the ongoing spat between the government and the Rotunda Hospital about?
0:46–1:21
3
Why did the Rotunda Hospital decide not to implement the public-only consultant contract?
1:21–4:59
4
What threats has the government made regarding funding for the Rotunda Hospital?
4:59–7:11