Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of myself and the Labour Party, I express my support and solidarity for the people of Paris and France following the devastating fire at Notre-Dame de Paris last night, a world heritage site that, hopefully, can be fully restored.

In recent weeks, women from across Ireland have been telling their stories on Joe Duffy's "Liveline" about their experiences of our maternity services. There is an urgent need to improve our maternity hospitals. Last year, we saw months of delay in beginning the work on moving the national maternity hospital to its new site at St. Vincent's hospital. While Holles Street continues to deliver excellent care to mothers and babies, international best practice is for maternity hospitals to be situated on the same campus as acute hospitals to allow for all the necessary consultants and specialist care to be provided on site. That delay is regrettable.

This year, the Government has confirmed that the plan for the national children's hospital involves the co-location of the Coombe maternity hospital, which is to be moved from its current location on Cork Street. The trilocation with St. James's Hospital would provide for best international practice. However, the Minister for Health has confirmed in recent days that there is no funding this year to start the work on moving the Coombe to the St. James's site. Earlier this year, I asked him to confirm whether there was sufficient space on the St. James's site for a new maternity hospital. According to newspapers, a three-acre site has been put aside. The Taoiseach might indicate exactly where that is, as people have asked and encountered difficulty in identifying it.

The Minister has indicated that he will be spending money this year on theatres in the Coombe in lieu of moving it. To what extent will this investment be transferable once the new hospital is built? Is this investment in the Coombe an indication that it will remain at the Coombe site for years to come?

Will the Government provide a clear timeline for the delivery of the new national maternity hospital at St. Vincent's, that is, when it is envisaged that it will be completed and opened? Will the Government further provide a timeline for the moving of the Coombe maternity hospital to the tri-located site at St. James's and confirm whether there will be enough space? Finally, will the Government provide a timeline for the delivery and relocation of Limerick's new maternity hospital, which, by everybody's understanding, is also urgently needed?

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