Mr. Phelim Devine:

I will take this question. On the accommodation aspect, a 52-bed family accommodation unit is to be built outside the hospital. It will be adjacent and linked through the basement. This is a separate procurement and we are working closely with the HSE in this regard. This contract will go to tender by the end of this year or early next year. It will then take approximately 18 months to build.

Turning to mobility management, CHI and St. James's Hospital are working closely on this element. There are other stakeholders on the campus, including the Blood Transfusion Board and Trinity College Dublin research facilities. These are all part of a campus-wide mobility management plan. This examines optimising public transportation, vehicular transportation, pedestrian and cycling routes into the campus. We have taken the opportunity in the design of the hospital to provide 500 bicycle parking spaces, most of which are in a car park underground. We also have optimised parking for patients and their families. The 675 spaces we are providing are for patients and their families, which is about one and a half times the number of spaces available on the adult campus. Therefore, as part of the EIS, we did a great deal of detailed work to ensure we have the right numbers of parking spaces. This provision does not exist in the three hospitals now. The committee will be aware that Temple Street hospital has no parking, while that at Crumlin hospital is limited. We have now addressed this issue.

Equally, the NTA's roll-out of BusConnects, which will occur shortly, perhaps by next year, will mean many new buses will be coming onto the campus. While from a vehicular perspective we have looked after all the patients and their families, we must also think about all the staff who will be working in St. James's Hospital and in the CHI when it opens. We will be talking about 7,000 people at that stage. Taking students into account as well, the overall total could be close to 9,000 people on campus. Most of those will use public transport, cycle or walk, and some will drive. Therefore, there is a joined-up, campus-wide approach to mobility management.