Colm Burke (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentation and detailed submission. The issue of the location of the new children's hospital has been discussed for literally 25 years. We had decided on the Mater hospital site ten years ago. The planning for it from Dublin City Council was almost through when An Bord Pleanála overturned it. The decision on this matter was taken in 2012 and the site is only now being cleared four years on. It will take a number of years yet before it is finished, if it goes ahead. A process was followed by An Bord Pleanála. It looked at all the issues the witnesses raised regarding traffic, congestion, access and parking. Would the witnesses agree that An Bord Pleanála took a decision in regard on the Mater hospital site because it had concerns about those issues but when it took a decision this time round, it did not have the same concerns? Would the witnesses accept that? Are they saying that An Bord Pleanála arrived at this decision incorrectly by not taking into account all of these issues, whereas it did take them into account in its decision on the Mater hospital? The witnesses raised all these issues in their presentation. Are they suggesting that the information given to An Bord Pleanála was misleading and it was not able to adequately examine it?

The witnesses raised the issue of flipping the site. Would they accept that we are now four years on from the decision having been taken, we are still only at the stage of clearing the site and that if we were to start all over again with the Connolly Hospital site we would have to go back to the drawing board? It would not possible to transfer the building because it would be a totally different structure. There is underground parking on the St. James's Hospital site but Connolly Hospital is a different site and we would have to go back to the drawing board. It would take anything up to 12 months to do a drawing, a presentation and the site outlay. The planning process would take another six months and even then we are talking about 18 months. The witnesses said that it could be all turned around in three years. Do they think it a little optimistic to claim that the site could be flipped in three years?

The three clinical directors of the National Children's Hospital in Tallaght, Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin and Temple Street Hospital are all in support of this development. The last line of the group's submission states: "If the Minister fails to do so he should know with certainty that he will be responsible for the deaths of many children and the avoidable anguish of countless parents - your constituents". Are the witnesses saying, in that final statement, that those clinical directors are jointly responsible? It is a serious suggestion. If they are backing this project, are the witnesses saying that the clinical directors will jointly be responsible in that situation? It is important that we clear the lines here. A decision has been taken and it has taken four years to get to this stage. We have been discussing this issue for 25 years. Are we going to add another five years to it? I am concerned about the time delay that would occur.