A constitutional referendum on whether the State should take ownership of the land on which the new national maternity hospital will be constructed could be held after the facility is built, the Seanad has heard.

Fine Gael Senator Martin Conway said the project needs to go ahead as quickly as possible but he suggested that, in the future a referendum could be considered about State ownership of the site “so that in 50 or 100 years’ time no future representatives from a future St. Vincent’s Healthcare Group can try to create a scenario where there is undue influence”.

He was speaking during a debate on the controversy surrounding the ownership and governance of the facility.

The National Maternity Hospital is due to relocate from Holles Street to the campus of St Vincent’s Hospital in South Dublin. The Government has said it wants to own the land on which the hospital will be built, rather than having a 99-year lease, which had been envisaged.

However, Labour Senator Ivana Bacik said “we certainly do not need a constitutional amendment. We have a compulsory purchase order procedure and that should be used.”