Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is exactly what the Department of Health and the Government have done. It is a shame, at a time when we want to nourish and protect. It is very wrong to have this debate without talking about the children. This is a children's hospital. We want a hospital for our sick children. This could help the children of today or our grandchildren tomorrow. We want a proper hospital for them, but we want it to be in an accessible place. We want it to be in a place where gardaí will not be brought to their knees by trying to provide escorts for ambulances bringing patients to essential services. We want it to be in a place where helicopters can bring sick children and their families in urgent situations. The Government has made an unmitigated mess of it.

As a result of this massive mistake, the Government has endangered other projects. I am only outlining the needs of County Kerry. I refer to other hospitals, such as Dingle Community Hospital, Kenmare Community Hospital and Caherciveen Community Hospital. There is a massive need for capital infrastructure investment in those hospitals. Instead, we are going to have Ministers and Department officials coming before us week in, week out. When we make the case for these projects we will be told that funds are not available because of the massive overrun in the national children's hospital, caused by the Minister of State and the Government putting it in the wrong place.

I hate personalising this, but the Minister of State, Deputy Daly, is the only one here. Looking around, the Government is a fairly sad-looking crowd tonight. This is a very important Private Members' motion into which an awful lot of work was put. Look at this pitiful sight. No man or woman would sit alongside the Minister of State to support him. That is wrong. Where is the Minister himself? Where is the Minister for Health, the man who is overseeing this shambles? Deputy Daly knows that I mean no disrespect whatsoever to him. They are hanging him out tonight, leaving him sitting there on his own to take this motion. That is deeply wrong and unfair. If I was in the Minister of State's shoes I would ask the Chief Whip, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health where the hell they were on the night a Private Members' motion on this very important subject came before the Dáil. They have all abandoned him, like rats jumping off a ship. They would not sit there with Deputy Daly and at least support him.

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