Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I ask the Taoiseach about reports in this morning's newspapers that Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin will have to close a ward almost immediately and another later this year because of a cost overrun of €10 million. The Health Service Executive, when it was set up, was purported to be a method of delivering a world-class health service for this country, funded by the Taoiseach, who was then Minister for Finance. Yet he has stood over a budgetary situation in which at the first sign of trouble in any hospital, when the cost base is examined, the answer is to close wards and not to treat patients. This is a policy of lunacy.

Of all the hospitals in the country, the children's hospital, as the Taoiseach is aware, does exceptional work which is extremely sensitive and personal to potentially every family in the country. We are four months into the year and a ward is being closed, with another to be closed later in the year, because of a €10 million overrun. This was announced on the same day as the now absent Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government announced a toothless mayoralty for Dublin. It has the potential to affect every family in the country.

The Taoiseach has been at the children's hospital, as have I and members of all parties, and we have seen the exceptional work done there. What is the Taoiseach's response to this? A ward is being closed, with another to follow, and children denied operations in Crumlin will either go on a long waiting list or be sent to the UK under the National Treatment Purchase Fund. This is a crazy policy. Has the Taoiseach considered the situation? The hospital has expensive equipment, trained consultants and trained front line staff, and it is now being denied the opportunity to treat patients from all over the country. What is the Taoiseach's plan to deal with this?

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