Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I refer to the National Children's Hospital. Responsibility for policy and health matters is retained by the Minister and operational responsibility is with the HSE. Since it came to existence the HSE is taking policy decisions and disputing policy decisions advocated by the Tánaiste, correctly so in some cases.

Concerns exist about the handling of the national children's hospital. A team of international experts, McKinsey and Company, submitted a report before Christmas. They were not required to report, or were explicitly precluded from reporting, on siting. A presentation was made on 31 January and some days later it emerged a joint working group of the Department of Health and Children and the HSE was established to deal with the siting issue. On 17 February a letter was issued inviting bids for the national children's hospital. The deadline for prospective tenders was 2 March. Although there are many public projects I would like to see them make progress at this rate, I know of no other that has progressed at this speed. A new hospital is a complex project, even if in this case it is a co-located one, and may cost €500 million. Professor Drumm is a paediatrician and may be the driving force behind this progress.

When does the Tánaiste expect to receive the report of this working group and when will a decision be made? Will that decision be made by the Tánaiste, the Government or Professor Drumm? Is she aware of the implications presented by a single build national children's hospital for existing hospitals that care for sick children? Many professionals believe the decision has already been made and we are going through a process to give the appearance of consultation on an issue of significant national interest.

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