Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I thank the Tánaiste. Given that was a considered, prepared document, I accept that is the decision of Government and that it stands. I would like to retrace the history a little in terms of the manner of presentation by the Tánaiste that McKinsey was recruited by him to report, that it recommended a single tertiary hospital, that it ought to be co-located on the same site as an adult hospital and that the subsequent decision of the group selected and of the Cabinet to nominate the Mater site was taken without political interference. I have no idea why the Tánaiste made that remark because I did not. The Government is entitled to make whatever decision it believes appropriate. I did not allege any Government interference.

However, it is interesting that he should raise that point because in September 2005, the chairman of the board of governors of the Mater Hospital, Mr. Des Lamont, thanked the Taoiseach at an event there for pledging to the hospital the national children's hospital. The significance of that is that it was three months before McKinsey reported and five months before the process, to which the Tánaiste referred, was put in place to select the site. It is very odd that the Tánaiste should refer to political interference. Those were the words of Mr. Des Lamont, chairman of the board of governors of the Mater Hospital. He did not make the information public but it became public.

I am not questioning the Government's right to make the decision but there are serious questions in the minds of parents in my constituency and in the huge catchment area covered by Tallaght Hospital, of the board of governors of Crumlin Hospital and of expert consultants about the wisdom of a single campus and a single tertiary hospital solution in the centre of a crowded city. The people on the north side ought to have access, as should people on the south side, in today's traffic conditions. One cannot attend a funeral at the Mater Hospital and get a parking place. These are the problems ordinary, hard-working parents have to endure. There is no adequate parking space there. It can be a matter of life and death whether a sick child can be transported from one side of this city to the other, and that is leaving aside the fact that it is supposed to be a national children's hospital.

The Tánaiste said that the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, said that the Crumlin report will be taken into account. Given that the Crumlin report absolutely contests the wisdom of the decision made, I cannot see how it can be taken into account and how the Government can proceed with the decision.

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