Ms Aisling McNiffe:

I will give the committee a tiny bit of background. My little boy was born 11 years ago and, like Deputy O'Connell's child, had to be transferred to Crumlin hospital from the Coombe hospital. Little did I know that would be our home for the next three years. Of course, it still is a big part of our lives and we are in and out a lot. Children like my child and many children throughout Ireland cannot go on a Luas or a bus. My little boy is in a wheelchair and is fed by a pump. He is often on oxygen and requires a lot of medication. He is also immunosuppressed and public transport is out. We also live in Kildare and there is no public transport from my house. It is really important to remember that 90% of those bringing their child to hospital, and it should be borne in mind that this will be the tertiary hospital for the sickest children, not children with a broken leg, coming from all over Ireland, will not be getting the Luas, the bus or the train. They will be coming by car or by ambulance.

That brings me to access. The committee members will know as they have already heard about it, but from a parent's point of view, can they imagine driving their child when it looks like they are going to die and they cannot get an ambulance? Can they imagine that? A person needs a hard shoulder or the M50. The St. James's site does not offer that so it is not the right site.

Parking is also really important. Can the committee members imagine in the same situation getting to the hospital and having nowhere to park if they had to take their child out in a wheelchair? A person cannot park in Crumlin and walk up, as somebody said to me before. Committee members know what the weather is like in Ireland. I have a vulnerable child who cannot get wet. They have to put themselves into the shoes of parents like me and many others throughout Ireland. We are not that few and far between. There are quite a lot of us.

The importance of space is one of the biggest problems with the St. James's site. Without space, as the committee knows already, there is no room for expansion. We know already that it is very unlikely that maternity co-location will be possible, but there will not be any green spaces. We keep being told about this rooftop garden that will be the size of Croke Park. It will not be. It is to be almost the length, but not the size, of Croke Park. It will be oval so that it will be a narrow space. It will be split into two so there will be one third of an acre on both sides. Then there is a little garden above that which will be half an acre in size, which must be evacuated if there is a helicopter landing. All these matters have to be taken into consideration. If committee members think of my little boy in a room of 10 ft. by 12 ft. for three years, and who has hospital acquired bugs, such as MRSA, he cannot leave his room.

He is also immuno-suppressed and so he cannot leave his room for his own protection. There is no garden at Crumlin hospital. We had our first walk around the streets of Crumlin. I witnessed drug users on my way to the park. I was too away far from the hospital and I had to walk around the park to get home. My little boy was on an oxygen saturation monitor. At that stage of our journey I was not competent and confident in caring for him without a nurse by my side. You have to think of what our children need. We have to give our children the best we can. We must give them space. The most important thing for a child is to be able to play. It must be remembered that some of these children's lives are lived out in hospital and many never get home. My son could have been one of those children. It is important for us to have green areas where they can play. We know from studies that nature has healing benefits. One study of patients in a ward that overlooked a garden showed that the wounds of the patients that overlooked the garden healed faster than the wounds of the patients on the other side of the ward. One's mental health is better when one has fresh air and green pastures to walk in. You have got to think of the children. The children have not been considered. Quality of life is the most important thing. Hospitals are not just for dying: they are also for living. That is what our doctors are here for. I thank God that we have doctors here today advocating for the most vulnerable of society.