Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Can we have a detailed, published set of commitments in regard to capital spending for the rest of this year, next year and the year after? That is not a big ask. We are asking to see the capital plan in detail for the forthcoming period. Ironically, we are in a position, as a country, where, technically, we have a capital plan for 2040 but we do not have published capital commitments for the rest of this year and next year. How ridiculous a situation can we have?

I want to ask the Taoiseach about two specific areas in regard to our constituency. First, in general, for women in Dublin and the rest of Ireland, where stands the national maternity hospital? We know there have been dreadful cost overruns and planning failures in the execution of the national children's hospital, resulting in what any chief executive in any organisation would call a complete mess and a complete cost overrun. The Government has put its hands up and acknowledged that. What is the knock-on implication of the enormous cost overrun on the children's hospital for women in Ireland who expect to use the services of the national maternity hospital in a new hospital quite soon?

Second, the master of the Rotunda Hospital, Professor Fergal Malone, wrote a heartbreaking article recently about the pressures under which staff in the Rotunda Hospital, in the centre of Dublin, are working to try to deliver the best services for mothers and babies. As the Taoiseach knows, the Rotunda is meant to move to Blanchardstown. What has happened? We have no idea. The Rotunda itself has no idea what is happening. Is the Blanchardstown move still on? It makes excellent sense but where is the capital plan that would show what is likely to happen. I understand the Rotunda has resources to commit but the State would also need to commit to this.

With regard to another of our maternity hospitals, the Coombe hospital also wishes to see additional investment and, in the context of the children's hospital, the Government has promised a new maternity hospital in respect of the Coombe. Where is that? We have a growing population, which is something to celebrate, but our maternity services are not keeping pace with what is happening in terms of the on-the-ground development of new maternity services for this century for the women of Ireland.

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