Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for his courtesy in this matter. It is important that backbenchers get the opportunity to raise these issues. I will talk about Dublin South-West, and I invite Deputy Gormley to come to Tallaght with the Green Party candidate and I will be happy to show her around.

In Dublin South-West we do not just talk about Tallaght, we also talk about Firhouse, Templeogue, Greenhills, Brittas and Bohernabreena. It is important to recognise the huge population in that area and that the Department and the Minister take account of the need for the further development of hospital and community health services in the area. There has been much progress in recent times, with positive developments under successive health boards on community facilities. We have a tremendous health centre in Jobstown and GP centres in Killinarden and Brookfield. The Millbrook Lawns health centre, however, still needs to be redeveloped after it was damaged by a fire seven years ago. I have continued to badger the HSE on the need to start work now on that project.

No discussion on the future of hospital and community services in south-west Dublin could ignore the situation in Tallaght Hospital. I acknowledge the interest the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, has shown in this subject. The Ceann Comhairle was one of the Fianna Fáil Ministers for Health who drove that project and who was kind enough to appoint me to the board in 1988. I took a particular interest in the campaign and I was involved in AMANCH board set up in 1988 to move the Adelaide, Meath and National Children's Hospital to Tallaght. The National Children's Hospital is the focus of a lot of attention throughout the Dublin region, particularly in the Tallaght area.

We need information. The HSE has reached a decision and there has been much talk about the process it went through and the surprise throughout Dublin, particularly in Tallaght, about Tallaght Hospital not figuring in the final decision. It maintains that all nine criteria were fulfilled and there is scepticism about the decision even among medical professionals.

We must now move on. As someone who has been involved in the project and who lives within the shadow of Tallaght Hospital, we must be told by the Department and the HSE what is happening. The future for the delivery of children's hospital services in the Tallaght region must be spelled out. We do not know what is going on and there have been protests and community activism as a result. This is the third largest population centre in the country so people need to know what is happening. There is a huge youth population in Tallaght, with many young families and we must be clear following the decision on the Mater Hospital site about what will happen to children's services in Tallaght Hospital.

My position is clear, children's services must be retained in Tallaght. In fact further development is also an issue. I hope the Minister of State will give us some insight in that regard. I am happy to join with my colleague, Deputy Crowe, in raising this matter which is a very important one for my community and me personally. I feel very strongly about my local hospital. Not only am I a local representative, I am a campaigner for the services in that area. I have been a patient in the hospital, and it is important that the Department understands that people in Tallaght need to know the answer. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for facilitating both Deputy Crowe and myself. I look forward to the Minister's positive reply.

See this speech in context