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

In response to Deputy Eric Byrne, I have serious concern about the three maternity hospitals in Dublin. All of them are under pressure. Thankfully, there are more births in this country than ever before. Previously, there was an average of 60,000 births per year, but it is now 72,000 or more and the maternity hospitals in Dublin are creaking at the seams. They all require upgrading. It is a serious matter and as soon as we have this problem resolved we will have to deal with that problem. It is an acute problem, so I am examining it very aggressively and trying to explore ways in which we can secure capital that would allow us to address the issues that these hospitals raise for new mothers and newborn babies.

I apologise to Deputy Crowe. I forgot to reply to his question, which Deputy Collins and Deputy Byrne also raised, about the future of the Crumlin site. Of course we will engage with the proprietors of the site to explore its future and to see what contribution they are prepared to make to the overall movement to the new paediatric hospital.

The well known difficulty we all must live with when building a new structure, be it a home or hospital, is that one must maintain the existing structure and continue to give people a safe service with dignity. The issue of tri-location is very much alive. There is no question that just because we have not made a decision today, it will not be something we see as the optimum thing to have at the end of the day.

Deputy Wallace raised the issue of the timeline of six months to get a design team, a year for design and a year for planning. We will do everything in our power to telescope and minimise that. I agree with what the Deputy said, as I had the same experience. Wearing one of the many hats I wore before becoming a Member of this House, I developed a town centre. I know how the planning process works and about the to-ing and fro-ing about the design to ensure everybody is happy and that it gets a positive decision. That is more difficult to achieve with An Bord Pleanála, which has historically been the port of last call. It does not consult. In fact, what I hope to do, without changing any legislation, is to use the good offices of Dublin City Council. I will ask it to become an interlocutor between the design team and An Bord Pleanála so a conversation can take place without involving any lack of probity or proper behaviour. That would give the team a clear steer on where it is going so we can avoid a refusal or minimise and mitigate that risk. We do not want that to happen a second time. We can shorten many of these timelines too by doing certain things in parallel and we are considering that. One thing we are doing is retaining the existing design team for the initial phase so we can expedite things very quickly.

Deputy Collins and others raised the funding issue. The funding of the paediatric services will continue as it is. As I mentioned to Deputy Ó Caoláin earlier, I am very focused on outcomes, not inputs. I am happy to inform the House that there are 800 fewer children waiting for inpatient treatment this year than last year. Our focus will continue to be on getting more children treated more quickly. That is what this new hospital is about, as well as creating new treatments from which not only our children but children around the world will benefit.

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