James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In response to Deputy Maloney, the development board remains in place. The terms of office of many of the people on that board will expire on 5 December. I have stated publicly that I wish to engage with them to see what role they see for themselves in the future. I said on radio yesterday that some people have interpreted this in some sort of negative way but I see it as a very positive thing. The people who served on the board served very well. I regret, as I am sure they do, that it was not possible to build on the Mater site but the planning risk was too high. I have absolutely no doubt that many of those people can have a role in the future and I hope they will avail of the opportunity to do so, in particular in the area of philanthropy.

I would be concerned, as Deputy Maloney is, about any sense of let us just get it over with quickly. This is not a case where that approach is suitable. There is much complexity. I suppose I am answering Deputy Crowe's question too in that there is still much difficult work to be done and difficult decisions to be made in regard to this hospital and I do not underestimate the planning difficulties. At no point did I say I had no concern about planning. I still have concerns and I acknowledged that in the report by saying that the risk is moderate and has been mitigated significantly by the fact that the original site which was 2.44 ha has now been expanded to 6.2 ha. We have a much greater site on which to operate.

The issue of tri-location is very much on the cards. We have ample room on this site to build not only the national paediatric hospital, but to build a maternity hospital in due course. As we all acknowledge, this country faces a very serious financial challenge and the funding is simply not available to do a tri-location at the moment but I hope we will be able to achieve that goal. There is sufficient land left for that and for other developments in the future.

I have no doubt the nomenclature of the hospital will attract much attention and all sorts of discussions on how we might decide that and, indeed, whether there should be a competition involving the children of the country. That question remains open.

In regard to the ambulatory and urgent care centre and the scope around that, there were three areas on which we could not make a final decision until the site was agreed. One of them was the ambulatory and urgency care centres because until we knew where the hospital was going, we could not determine how many of these centres we would need. The original plan was for one in Tallaght but perhaps we will need two or three and we need to examine that now. We will do so very quickly. The other areas were governance and information technology. Those areas are being aggressively addressed as I speak.

In regard to the Coombe hospital going to Tallaght and that whole issue, nothing has been decided yet. The process is important, and it will be important to all those people involved in the bids. I said in my opening remarks that I wanted to thank all of them for the efforts they put in. Each of the bidders, in regard to the hospital groups, made very genuine and well-intentioned bids for what they felt was the best option for the future treatment of children in this country. I acknowledge and thank them for that.

The process was very fair and open and the reports will be made available and published so there can be no question of doubt that something as major as this, which will have to serve our children for a number of generations, as Deputy Maloney said, was done in the best interest of children and of affording them in the shortest time possible the best environment in which to receive what they often already receive, the best treatment.

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