Dear Editor, The present controversy surrounding the executive remuneration practices in the Central Remedial Clinic (CRC) invites attention to the position of the funding agency, The Care Trust, which is jointly owned by the CRC and The Rehab Group. The Trust, according to its website, fundraises for its owners and it also has a long standing arrangement whereby it fundraises for The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. It has recently been running a radio advertising campaign seeking donations from members of the public. While the CRC executive pay controversy may cause some of your readers to hesitate to support the Trust there is an altogether more serious question about the use to which funds donated to the Trust may be put. Last September the Mater Hospital announced that it would comply with the Government’s abortion legislation. This means that readers who are contributing to The Care Trust cannot be sure that their money will not be used to finance the provision of abortion services in the Mater. For a number of years I had been making a small donation by means of direct debit; following the Mater’s announcement that it would comply with the Government’s legalisation of the deliberate killing of innocent human life I cancelled this arrangement. Those of your readers who contribute to or are considering contributing to The Care Trust should ask themselves if they want to financially support the provision of abortion services through the Sisters of Mercy owned Mater Hospital.
Yours etc.,
Paddy Barry,
Killiney,
Co. Dublin.
