Ms Tracey Conroy:

I can take that question. Under its founding legislation, Children's Health Ireland is given specific responsibility to engage in fundraising and philanthropy for the new children's hospital project. We previously had a commitment of €20 million factored into the capital project but it was considered there is significant scope for philanthropy. It reflects international practice in children's hospitals.

There is very significant scope for attracting philanthropic funding. Children's Health Ireland is proposing to establish a single chargeable foundation called Children's Health Ireland Foundation and it will be tasked with raising the funds. In that context, the three children's hospitals in Dublin each have a separate independent charity affiliated with them which fundraise for various projects. There is a lot of experience in that regard and it will be captured in the context of Children's Health Ireland Foundation. It has some interim steps already because it has been giving significant consideration to this. The Children's Hospital Group, before it became Children's Health Ireland, had been giving consideration to the potential for philanthropy over many years. After the establishment of Children's Health Ireland, with the right governance arrangements in place, it can really hit the ground running with regard to philanthropy. Children's Health Ireland and the three hospital foundations in existence have established a short-term philanthropy steering group consisting of two board members from each of the four organisations and their lead executive. That is where the work will be progressed.