Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I am not hiding behind anything. We proceeded on the basis that we would build a new hospital in Crumlin with 400 beds and a new hospital in Temple Street with in excess of 200 beds, in addition to the facility in Tallaght. When the analysis was done the reason we came to this position in the first place was that many of the paediatricians in Dublin said to me that such an approach was crazy and that we should have brought services together years ago. This was not something I had ever reflected upon. That is how we came to the position of examining what we would do before it was too late and we had spent a great deal of money.

The same applies to adults but, unfortunately, there are more sick adults than sick children. Thankfully, there are relatively few sick children because children generally are healthy. With a population just in excess of 4 million, we are not justified in having more than one tertiary facility. In the case of adult treatments, we have to provide some tertiary facilities and they can only be provided on a single site basis. What we want to do on the adult sites is to develop regional facilities where people can be treated based on quality assurance, safety protocols etc. That is particularly important in the area of cancer care.

In the end, the decision came down to either the Mater Hospital site or St. James's Hospital. St. James's Hospital has the largest range of adult specialties. The Mater Hospital's advantage was that many of the paediatricians in Temple Street Hospital are also on the staff of the Mater Hospital. The site there could also be available more quickly because of the work that had been done on the redevelopment of both facilities. We want also to make arrangements for a maternity hospital because many of the children who will be treated there are neonates. It was for all those reasons that the decision was made. I assure Deputy Twomey that there is no question of closing Tallaght Hospital. The issue for that hospital is whether it will become an urgent care centre.

I asked the group to examine as a matter of priority where urgent care centres in Dublin should be situated and what should be their scope. Those matters must be agreed quickly. Anaesthetists and others will be required to perform day procedures. I cannot be certain, but, given the experience of the hospital in Tallaght, I would be surprised if the group did not designate it an urgent care centre.

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