Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for sharing time. I welcome this motion from the Rural Independent Group. Everyone in the House agrees that we need a world-class hospital for children. What should we build the hospital for? Should we build it to cater for all of Ireland or part of it? A few things emerged from the Minister's speech. He spoke about inflation. I come from the building sector and have spoken to subcontractors around Dublin. I can tell the Minister there is no such thing as 9% inflation in the building sector. Consultants are telling the Government that. They are increasing prices and the Government is listening but the reality is totally different.

There is a myth to the effect that what amounts almost to a cult wants it to be moved to Connolly Hospital. I am not in a cult. I am making my own decision. I am not a clinician but I am giving my view. I worked on the extension to St. James's Hospital in 1997 or 1998. It was the greatest bottleneck site I ever worked on in Dublin. We are being contacted by nurses who have to travel from distance and who cannot get into the hospital with their cars. They are being told that they must be in at 6.30 a.m. This is due to preparatory work happening on the site at the moment. A considerable amount of such work needs to be carried out.

The Minister said that the hospital will cater for all of Ireland. The reality is that in rural parts of Ireland, there is no helicopter at night. No Sikorsky helicopter, about which we heard earlier, will land in the west of the country. This is in the programme for Government but, one year on, it has not been looked at. We do not have the facilities. I have listened to mothers. I heard a gasp from the Public Gallery earlier when it was said that nobody is putting children into the backs of cars. A mother in Roscommon, Galway or Westmeath who is in a desperate state and has to wait 35 minutes for an ambulance will put her child in the back of her car and drive like hell. In fairness, she will reach the M50 quickly enough but it takes as long to go from Glenamaddy in Galway to the M50 as it takes to go from the M50 to the St. James's site on any given day. These are the things that need to be looked at. This is the anxiety felt by some people around the country.

I was not involved in politics when they spoke about the Mater Hospital site. Politicians said that it was the greatest site ever and that we had to go with it. Everyone was agreed on it but when it was turned down, they said there was a better site down the road. No site is 100% perfect. The figures I have heard are astronomical. A greenfield site is far cheaper to buy and nobody can dispute that. The Minister spoke about the Dáil vote in 2012. The previous Government had a majority of over 100. There is a minority Government in place at present and if Deputies want to stand up for what they believe in, they should do so.

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