Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to be in the House to debate this very important issue of the location of the national children's hospital. Let me begin by quoting an e-mail I received this morning: It states:

St. James's is wrong for children. St. James's is wrong for families. St. James's is utterly wrong.

Since coming into office last year, I have been receiving correspondence from parents, doctors, children's organisations and parent support groups which are vehemently opposed to the proposed location of the new children's hospital at St. James's. These individuals are concerned exclusively with the well-being of the children of Ireland and they have no ulterior motives. They have been giving up and continue to give up their free time to fight for what they believe is right, and this must be commended and acknowledged by the Minister. Why would these people be giving up their free time and energy to fight for something unless they really believed in it?

Last June, a petition of 60,000 signatures opposing the St. James's campus as the site for the national children’s hospital was delivered to An Taoiseach. A Red C national survey around the same time recorded 73% opposition to the St. James's site. Reports from staff, patients and ambulance drivers have repeatedly reported that traffic and parking problems are a nightmare at St. James's Hospital. The St. James's site is impossible to get access to, especially at rush hour. With an additional 4,000 vehicular movements per day associated with the children's hospital, this already major problem of access to the St. James's site will become even worse, and it will no doubt result in a serious negative impact on the functioning of the adult hospital. Due to the restricted nature of the site, parking provision for the children's hospital is dramatically lower than that of international comparator hospitals. It will have fewer parking spaces per bed than were available at Crumlin in 2010 and, overall, only 8% of staff in both the children's and the adult hospitals will have access to parking. This will not fare well for retaining staff. Helicopter access is also impacted as there is no space at St. James's for the Coast Guard air and sea rescue helicopter to land.

It must be noted there is no benefit in co-locating with an adult hospital as paediatrics and adult medicine are two different specialties. However, co-locating with a maternity hospital is non-negotiable, according to the experts, and not having a maternity hospital co-located will result in the avoidable death and disability of sick children. There is no site for a maternity hospital at St. James’s.

It has been stated repeatedly that it would cost more to change the site at this point but this is false. The fact is that to change the site at this point to Connolly Hospital would represent a saving of at least €250 million for the taxpayer according to the international independent review of 2011 and the Dolphin review of 2012. Building the children's hospital at St. James's will result in poorer clinical outcomes for children, lack of adequate expansion space, staffing concerns, restricted parking and access for ambulances, helicopters, patients and their families, lack of a supportive natural environment and poor value for money. I am pleading with Deputies to support this motion and to address the concerns of our citizens. Once again, I repeat that St. James's is wrong for children. St. James's is wrong for families. St. James's is utterly wrong.

I thank Deputy Mattie McGrath, who has soldiered in this great cause with his staff, Tríona and Maureen. He is trying to keep the truth alive on this issue. I know for a fact that if this is not changed, it will lead to tribunals down the road.

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