Tony Gregory (Dublin Central, Independent)

In the context of the delay in the capital programme for 2005 I want to raise the urgent need for a decision on the future of Temple Street Children's Hospital. The plan for a new modern children's hospital on the Mater site has been ready to go to final tender since last year. Despite many inquiries by the Temple Street Children's Hospital authorities, there is still no indication of approval from the HSE to allow the new children's hospital to progress. This is despite several commitments, including from the Taoiseach, that work would start this spring and be completed by 2009. Who is taking responsibility for the health services? Is it the Government and the Tánaiste or is it the new bureaucrats of the HSE?

Temple Street Children's Hospital desperately needs new modern facilities. It has some of the busiest accident and emergency departments, wards and theatres in Ireland, with queuing, a lack of privacy, an extremely dedicated staff and grossly inadequate facilities. The children of the northside of Dublin need Temple Street Children's Hospital and deserve better treatment than this. They deserve the new facilities this Government has promised for so long. Apparently that promise has now been broken. Will the Tánaiste honour the commitments already given on Temple Street Children's Hospital? Will she act like a Minister for Health and Children and get this project back on the rails and back on the timescale promised to start in the spring of this year?

The Tánaiste should specifically answer this question when she replies. It is not only the dedicated staff and the parents of children in the hospital who are dependent on this new modern facility. The entire future of the northside of Dublin is also dependent on it. The facility has been given commitment after commitment and promise after promise. A total of €45 million has already been spent on developing the proposal, which was put on hold at the final critical stage when it was ready to start. I want a full explanation for this. The people and children of the northside of Dublin deserve an answer to these questions. I ask the Tánaiste to take whatever steps she can to ensure the HSE responds to the requests from Temple Street Children's Hospital and get the project moving. It is urgently required.

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