Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for raising this Topical Issue matter and I apologise for being here on behalf of the Department of Health. By raising this matter, the Deputy gave me the opportunity and impetus to spend more time reading about Dr. Kathleen Lynn. I am glad I had that opportunity to learn more about this extraordinary woman who was a suffragette, a woman of Mayo, after my own heart, a professional woman, a woman Deputy, and a paediatric medic. There is nothing not to like and I have been encouraged to learn more about her.

The new children's hospital, which I had the good fortune to have the opportunity to visit when I was a member of the Committee of Public Accounts, is a key enabler of a major strategic reform of healthcare services for children and young people, informed by A New National Model of Care for Paediatric Healthcare in Ireland. As the Deputy knows, it will bring together the three children's hospitals into one, consolidating expertise and research excellence to ensure the best outcomes for the children of Ireland.

When I visited the hospital, I was very much struck by the totally different approach that parents and children will experience when they are there. The in-room care that can be provided by parents for their children in a safe and comfortable way is in contrast to the experience so many parents have in children’s hospitals around Ireland. People do not realise that when parents have a child in hospital they have to be there the entire time. Until people go through that, they do not really understand it. The level of care parents provide to their children in hospitals is extraordinary. The Government has taken more and more steps to provide support to parents who should be aware that additional needs payments are available to them for all of the extra costs incurred when a parent is with a child in a hospital, ranging from parking and food to the additional childcare and accommodation costs that can arise. Sometimes we do not recognise that.

As the Deputy is aware, the new children's hospital will be supported by two satellite centres at Connolly and Tallaght hospitals. These are major milestones in the wider reform effort. In 2022, for example, more than 22,000 children presented to Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown and more than 92% were discharged home after their visit, keeping them away from the more acute hospitals. There have also been over 15,000 outpatient attendances at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown. Over 36,000 children presented to the emergency care unit at Tallaght in 2022, with over 4,000 outpatient attendances. Both of the satellite centres provide a new model of ambulatory care, fully aligned with Sláintecare, ensuring the right care is available in the right place at the right time in an effort to keep care away from the acute hospitals.

The physical building is progressing at pace on the new children's hospital site. I am told by the Department of Health that as the physical building progresses, that there is an emerging need for a permanent name to be assigned to the hospital. I apologise to the Deputy that I do not have a better answer for him than this but I will convey to him what I have been told. In light of this need, the process for naming the new children’s hospital is under consideration. I rang Department officials to try to get a better and more thorough answer for the Deputy in respect of timing, process and other matters. I did not get an answer, however, for which I am sorry. I am also embarrassed by the quality of answer I have for the Deputy. I hope the Department of Health will follow up with the Deputy directly to outline what the process will be and at what pace it will proceed. Nevertheless and notwithstanding that omission, the delivery of the new hospital is a crucial milestone for parents with children with long-term and ongoing care and medical needs. It is a positive step forward to see the satellite centres working in advance of that.

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