Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their contributions to date. Both Tallaght and Connolly hospitals are finished and up and running and doing very well. Looking outside of Dublin, because all the focus with regard to children's healthcare has been very much about Dublin, we have now got planning permission for the paediatric unit in Cork. Where are we with regard to going forward with the project in Cork now? While the focus has been totally on Dublin, there are 731,000 people now living in the Cork and Kerry region alone. There has been a huge growth of population in Cork over the last ten or 15 years. Is Cork now going to be put on the back burner for another ten years? Can we get a definitive timeline for when we can move forward with the project in Cork?