Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Fianna Fáil supports this Bill. It puts the new national children's hospital on a statutory footing. The Bill is long overdue, having been on the Government's legislation list for three years. It is disappointing that the new children's hospital will not be operational until 2022. When the St. James's Hospital site was chosen in 2012 it was expected that the hospital would be built by now. It is five years since the Higgins report and this is the first hospital to be put on a statutory footing. My local hospital group, the Saolta University Health Care Group, is not on a statutory footing so perhaps the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, will seek clarification from the Minister, Deputy Harris, on when the Government is planning to bring forward legislation to put other hospital groups on a statutory footing. Good corporate governance is important, as was clearly highlighted in the Scally report. We look forward to the HSE board being formed and to legislation being introduced in that regard.

Earlier the Minister referred to two or three issues which I wish to discuss. One was the naming of the hospital. I welcome that there will be a process whereby political parties and the general public can have an input into the naming of the new children's hospital. It was a little premature to name it before there was proper consultation, so many bodies will be happy about that.

With regard to arrangements being made with fast food companies in respect of play or recreational areas within the hospital grounds, I have a clear viewpoint on that. It is hard to have a fast food outlet in a prominent position in a major new innovative hospital if we are promoting healthy living. It should not be done if we are trying to achieve a balance. That is my personal viewpoint although I am sure that when it reaches that stage we will be delighted to see that the hospital is nearing its opening.

It has taken six years for us to get to this stage and, like others, I welcome it. As we have said all along, the most important thing is to get the hospital built. Why is that? The Minister of State is well aware of the waiting lists that have fed into this. There are currently 44,000 children on the waiting lists for Temple Street, Crumlin and Tallaght for various appointments. With regard specifically to cardiology and ophthalmology, there are over 2,000 children waiting for specialised cardiology treatment and 2,277 are waiting for ophthalmology treatment.

I am glad the Minister acknowledged that along with this hospital, which is the subject of this Bill, he is going to look at other centres which he intends to improve. He mentioned Galway specifically and I welcome that. There is a great deal of concern that all roads are going to lead to Dublin and that a regionally balanced approach in respect of caring for children, be it in Galway or Cork, might be forgotten. We must ensure a balance in that regard.

As I said, we support this measure and I wish the staff and the new boards of management, when they are established, the best of luck. Most importantly, we must make every effort to ensure that we meet the final deadline that has been set. That is imperative. We cannot wait any longer. Children have to be front and centre in this. They are our future and we must protect them. Anxious parents need to know that we will have a centre of excellence not just in respect of the quality of care that will be delivered but also in respect of research and the training of the staff there. That will be very welcome. I have nothing further to say aside from wishing everybody the very best of luck.

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