The State should not take over the direct operation of health services currently run by voluntary hospitals and agencies, but there should be significant changes to existing funding arrangements, a new Government review is expected to recommend.

The review, commissioned last year by Minister for Health Simon Harris, was asked to examine the role played by voluntary organisations in health provision and personal social services in Ireland; to consider current and potential issues arising; and to make recommendations to the Minister for Health on the future relationship between the State and voluntary service providers. It was commissioned in response to the outcry over the National Maternity Hospital being moved to the voluntary Catholic Hospital, St Vincents, which was once run by the Sisters of Charity. Besides a distaste among some with public money going to a nominally religious body, there were also fears that abortion might be restricted in the new maternity hospital.