The Catholic Bishops of Ireland have claimed that the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill appears to impose a duty on Catholic hospitals to provide abortions.

However, in practical terms, there are no institutions which can still be termed 'Catholic hospitals' which would be obliged under the Bill's terms to perform terminations where there is deemed to be a real and substantial threat to the life of a pregnant women.

The Bill says there are 19 public maternity units in Ireland, 16 of which are in HSE-run hospitals. In addition, there are the three Dublin voluntary maternity hospitals which, under section 38 of the Health Act can be requested by the HSE to provide terminations under the new legislation by the HSE.

Only one of the three Dublin maternity hospitals, the National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street, could still be deemed, in technical terms, a 'Catholic hospital.'

This is due to the fact that the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin is still Chairman of Holles Street's board of governors, an arrangement dating back to the early years of the 20th century. Three local parish priests are also on the board.

However, the Catholic Church has had no active role in the running or policy direction of Holles Street in recent times.

Indeed, the current Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, has not attend board meetings at the hospital for more than eight years and has effectively sought to be removed as chairman.

He believes the current charter of Holles Street which sets out the board membership  to be 'an anachronistic structure' that needs to be changed.

A spokesperson for the Dublin Archdiocese said that that the Archbishop had written to Health Minister James Reilly last year suggesting that Holles Street's charter be changed.

While there are still Catholic-run hospitals in Ireland, such as the Mater and St Vincent's in Dublin, they are not specifically identified as as centres for terminations under the new abortion legislation, as they do not have obstetric units.

Two HSE hospitals with maternity units - Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda and Portiuncula Hospital in Balinasloe- which are likely to be designated as termination centres, were formerly religious-owned.

The Catholic Bishops, in a statement yesterday, claimed the Government's planned legislation would, if approved, make the 'direct and intentional killing of unborn children lawful in Ireland'.

The Bishops said imposing as duty on Catholic hospitals to provide abortion 'would be totally unacceptable and has serious implications for the existing legal and constitutional arrangements that respect the legitimate autonomy and religious ethos of faith-based institutions'.

The Primate of All Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, said yesterday the failure of the Government to allow institutions to opt out of carrying out terminations on conscientious objection grounds was a denial of fundamental religious freedoms and thought.

However, it is unclear at this stage how any hospital directly controlled by the Catholic Church or specifically guided by Catholic ethical guidelines would be affected by the new legislation.