Ms Eilísh Hardiman:

This year alone we are opening up the paediatric outpatient and urgent care centre at Connolly hospital. This will significantly help deal with our current challenges. We know we have challenges with outpatient access. This year alone, we will be able to offer an extra 7,500 outpatient facilities. We will see the benefits of this investment starting this year, along with other service developments. This is about how we are transforming the delivery of services to children. While we are cognisant of the investment involved, from the perspective of Children’s Health Ireland we are confident the children and families, as well as the taxpayer, will see the benefits of this investment, starting from this year.