Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

After this it definitely will be. We will give Ms Hardiman an honorary title. Once I committed myself to studying all the information I was convinced that this was the right place to put the hospital. I was given a document at the Oireachtas Committee on Health about four years ago. It stated that about 75% of the patient cohort came from the greater Dublin area. I do not care what trouble I get into. I cannot get into any more trouble than last week. Anyone who tries to reverse out of the hospital's current position is really doing a disservice to the children of Ireland. Despite some media reports, I have been a user of Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin for ten years. I have been an inpatient and a day patient. I have used the cardiac facilities in the medical tower, the accident and emergency department and everything bar the oncology unit, touch wood. I am fully aware of the challenges children are facing. This is about children. I do not see this as a poisoned chalice but as a wonderful opportunity to deliver something that successive Governments, boards and groups have failed to deliver. I recognise the huge challenges. I have sat in so many meetings about the children's hospital. I understand that we need to get value for taxpayers' money and we need the best possible hospital for our children, but the constant pushback against providing this only serves to damage outcomes for the children of Ireland. While our role is to interrogate this process, when any of us criticise the progress of the hospital we have to be very conscious of how much we needed it when it was first mooted. Perhaps Ms Hardiman could outline this. Consider the changes that have taken place at Temple Street Children's University Hospital and Crumlin. We still have not delivered. I remember seeing surgical pods being installed at Crumlin ten years ago and thinking it was a waste as we were going to build a hospital. Ten years later we do not have that hospital. For the record, I would like to encourage the board to keep going to get this delivered. However everyone should consider the children who have missed out due to the persistent delays that have plagued this project.

Turning to the Children's Health Ireland, CHI, it is very positive that there has been a 35% reduction in general paediatric waiting lasts in the last six months. Can we replicate that over the next six months or is that just a push to the start line? Similarly, there has been a reduction of 65% in the 12-month waiting list. Can we keep pushing in that direction or have we reached a saturation point?