Mr. John Pollock:

Yes. We have always been conscious that parents coming to the hospital with a sick child will drive and we have never suggested they take a bus or Luas. That was never our plan. From the outset, we have prioritised the car parking spaces for families and parents coming to the hospital. A total of 675 car parking spaces have been ring-fenced for parents. An Bord Pleanála has confirmed this and made the number of spaces a planning condition. This means we could not change it, even we wanted to do so.

As Ms Sharkey indicated, one of the anxieties parents have when coming to the hospital is whether they will find a car parking space. Parents will be able to pre-book parking using a facility similar to what available to visitors to Dublin Airport where people can pre-book a space and when they arrive at the car park their car registration is recognised. The barrier is then lifted and the driver parks in an assigned parking space. The new pre-booking facility at the hospital will remove an anxiety faced by parents.

We also recognised that some parents will arrive at the hospital in highly distressed circumstances and will obviously not have the luxury of pre-booking a parking space. The accident and emergency department will have 27 car parking spaces. A parent who arrives at the accident and emergency department with a child in an emergency will find a concierge service. The parent will hand the car keys to the concierge and enter the hospital and the car will be parked for him or her. The St. James's hospital campus caters for everybody, those who need to drive to the hospital and those who prefer to use public transport. As Ms Sharkey stated, grandparents who do not drive may wish to visit their grandchildren at the weekend. They will be able to take a train to Connolly Station or Heuston Station or a bus to Busáras and travel straight to the hospital. The green and red Luas lines will connect next year, making the site even more accessible.

We also recognise the need to look after staff and a further 325 car parking spaces have been provided for staff. These spaces will be prioritised, for example, members of staff living 1 mile from the hospital do not need to drive to the hospital. This is the way cities have evolved.

I am sorry Senator Rónán Mullen has left the meeting. He asked what is the significant weakness of the Connolly Memorial Hospital site. We know a great deal about Connolly hospital. In lodging an application for planning permission for a 5,000 sq. m. site, we had to comply with local, regional and national transportation policies. The An Bord Pleanála inspector, in his report ruling on granting us planning permission, stated:

There is a flaw, in my opinion, in the argument put forward by some of those who advocate a greenfield site adjacent the M50. They appear to assume that unfettered access off the national and primary route and unfettered access to on-site car parking can be accommodated. The same national, regional and local transportation policies are equally applicable at that location as they are at the application site and do not support such a strategy.

What the inspector was very much calling out in these remarks is that if one chooses a greenfield site without access to public transport, only one mode of transport, namely, the private car, is available to access the site and this means providing car parking. This does not align with transportation policies. The idea that thousands of car parking spaces would be provided at the Connolly hospital site is, therefore, a myth.

The inspector went further in his report when he stated:

In that regard, it is interesting to note that in its written submission to the Board, Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) placed strong emphasis on the applicant delivering upon its MMP to reduce the generation of car commuter traffic, especially in relation to the satellite centre sites at Tallaght and Connolly hospitals to protect the national road network in the vicinity of those sites... If the TII was concerned about the relatively small satellite centre of c. 5,000 sq.m. proposed under the current application at Connolly hospital, it may not be unreasonable here to suggest that they might have greater concerns if the NCH/CRIC/FAU of c. 125,000 sq.m. was proposed there instead.

He is pointing out that if the TII had concerns about a 5,000 sq. m., what would be its concerns in respect of a site of 125,000 sq. m. The inspector's report continues:

Furthermore, there is no guarantee that locating the NCH on a greenfield site adjacent the M50 will avoid the congestion some fear will be encountered accessing the St. James’s site. The upgraded M50, as referred to by some at the Hearing, is experiencing congestion too.

On this day last week there was major congestion on the M50 where even the hard shoulder was closed. That is a recurring theme. It is a myth to think that the M50 does not have problems because it does have problems. An Bord Pleanála, in its wisdom, looked at all of these issues and called out very strongly that it has concerns. I think that is a fundamental weakness.

The inspector also referenced the other major weakness in his report. He said there are many people who are not in favour of the St. James's Hospital site and on that point they are in agreement. After that they are not in agreement because some favour Tallaght, the Coombe, Connolly hospital or a greenfield site in the middle of the country. There will never be a site that everybody rallies around because there is no perfect site. There is the best site and that is what we have got.