Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)

Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin is the national tertiary hospital for children and I am delighted the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children is not opposed to the idea of selecting a well-structured greenfield site for a new hospital. Fine Gael believes that a tertiary hospital for all services should be built on a greenfield site, somewhere like the west Dublin site that is a possible location for this. Will the Tánaiste give her views on this proposal? Should there not be a proper national treatment centre for both children and adults? Such a hospital would deal with neurosurgery, transplant surgery and other specialities that have been tagged on to other Dublin hospitals.

Building a large tertiary hospital would improve access both by road and helicopter for the entire island. It would contribute to freeing up an enormous number of beds in the major Dublin hospitals where, as the Tánaiste is aware, there is a major crisis regarding the availability of beds. Under the national development plan, additional beds are to be opened in these hospitals. Would it not be better to remove speciality services from these hospitals, put them into a national tertiary hospital and develop a proper national tertiary service for the whole island that would treat serious and rare conditions?

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