Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This is an incredible reflection on the Taoiseach, who as Minister for Health made an announcement in 2015 concerning the Rotunda Hospital, which we all know is a very venerable hospital in old buildings that has provided centuries of care to women and babies in Dublin. According to the Minister of State's reply, it now looks as though it will just get a wave of the hand and be left to carry on in the really dangerous situation recently described by the master of that hospital in respect of neonatal care and infection risk. The Minister of State's reply basically stated that this Government has not allocated a cent or euro to the Rotunda Hospital project. Not only that, it has not even brought together a design team to begin to put together the details of what the plan for the Rotunda would be. The Minister of State said nothing about the current situation in the Rotunda and its problems, particularly with regard to infection risk and the need for a new neonatal intensive care unit outlined by the master. Her reply implies that the Connolly Hospital project seems to have slipped the Taoiseach's mind once he made a few announcements about it, and neither he nor his Government has done anything more. The Minister for Health does not even bother to come in here today to answer a question that is vital for many women, not just in Dublin but in the rest of the country and in particular their babies.

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