Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Cullinane. I thank the Deputies from the Rural Independent Group for bringing this motion forward and giving us the opportunity to discuss the national children's hospital. This discussion is needed.

Sinn Féin is not in a position to support this motion. While we agree with much of what is contained in it, we cannot support it in its entirety. That is the reason we have tabled an amendment for which I seek support. Our amendment seeks to address the concerns raised by the campaign groups and the parents of sick children and seeks to put vital information into the public domain, which should address the concerns that have been raised. I note the Minister has started to put some of that information into the public domain but there can be no disputing the fact that the people who hold the view that this is the wrong site do so very sincerely and they need and deserve to have their concerns addressed. This debate should give us an opportunity to do that.

I believe that the concerns expressed by the groups are well-founded in many respects and they need to be addressed. The Government has insisted that they are confident that St. James's Hospital is the best site for the new children's hospital and it is up to the Minister and the Government to prove that. That is why we are calling on the Minister to provide evidence of the Government's repeated claims of improved clinical outcomes resulting from adult co-location and specifically from co-location with St. James's Hospital. If he is saying that this is the best site, he should not just try to convince us but should convince those people who are opposed to it. He should talk to them and show them the evidence he has that has convinced him that it is the right site. He should share that information with them.

There is a frightening lack of information in the public domain about the planned workload for the paediatric satellite hospitals in Tallaght and Connolly hospitals. That has to be rectified, and I note some information was provided by the Minister. Parents need to know where they will be bringing their sick children and the services they can expect. That is what we expect from the Minister and the Government this evening and throughout the duration of this project. We want information about the new hospital because if reports in the media are to be believed, we are about to spend a phenomenal amount of money and therefore we need to know we will get the best outcome for that money when we spend it.

There is not a Deputy in this House who wants anything less than a world class hospital for our children but it needs to be accessible. We need to hear from the Minister that he has heard and understood the concerns about traffic congestion and the problems with access, and that he has confidence that this new hospital will be available and accessible for those who need it. We need to know that there will be adequate parking. We need to know that staff, sick children and their families will be able to access this hospital easily. I am sure the Minister knows that access on public transport is not an option, either for families with seriously ill children or for staff working anti-social hours. They cannot rely on public transport when they finish work potentially in the early hours of the morning.

We want the Minister to reassure us. We want him to tell us that he has a plan and that he has confidence that the scenario outlined in graphic detail by groups which are not convinced that this is the right site will not happen. We want him to tell us that this is the right site and demonstrate that he has enough information and evidence to stand behind it and support it.

I want to use my remaining minute to raise once again the issue of palliative care for children outside the Pale. It is all very well for us to be here discussing this new hospital but we need to remember also that there will be children discharged from this hospital, wherever and whenever it is built, who will be going home to die, and there is no home support for many of them. The only support they have is that which they get from their families or from charities, and that is not good enough. While we acknowledge that the new hospital will be a vital asset for children and their families, we cannot lose sight of those who will not get better in hospital. Those children and their families need and deserve every bit as much attention as the children who will get better in the new hospital.

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