Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I will begin today by condemning the senseless antisemitic murder of Yaron and Sarah overnight. These were two young diplomats in Washington DC who were killed in the prime of their lives. They were a young couple, soon to be engaged. I think of them and their families, to whom I send our sympathies. I also think of all those present at the Jewish museum in Washington DC last night, who include one of our own young diplomats. Antisemitism is a disgusting, despicable and vile scourge and we should condemn it at each and every opportunity.

I join with Deputy Doherty in welcoming Cara back to the Gallery of the Dáil. I look forward to working with her. I assure her that there is no tribal division here between the Opposition and the Government. Everybody in this House wants to make progress on children's disability services, assessments of need and access to therapies. My colleagues the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, and the Minister, Deputy Foley, have the full support of the Government. I hope we can all work in a cross-party way to make the progress we really need to make in respect of children's disability services.

I thank Deputy Doherty for raising the issue of the national children's hospital. The reality is that the hospital is now almost complete from a construction point of view. It is well over 95% complete and the technical commissioning is now under way. We are moving towards a twin track, where Children's Health Ireland has early access to the hospital. It is not a question of waiting for every single last bit of construction to be completed. The commissioning work is able to start alongside it. That is a practical and appropriate thing to do so that we can get this hospital open and so that access can be granted on a phased basis as parts are fully completed. That is good. It is urgent. Children and parents need it. I am assured that the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, CHI and BAM are engaged on achieving this.

Let us not lose sight of the facts. Within the overall budget for this hospital, a budget that has not changed from the €2.2 billion the Deputy asked about earlier, two satellite centres are already open. These centres, at Tallaght hospital and Connolly Hospital, are part of that overall budget, the overall envelope for the children's hospital project. They are complete and open. The facility at Connolly Hospital has now hit a milestone with 100,000 children having been treated there. Sometimes when people speak of this project, you would swear nothing has happened. However, 100,000 children have already benefited from having the Connolly Hospital element alone open.

It is a world-class project of massive scale with an internal street the length of Grafton Street, 4 acres of open space and a massive increase in theatre capacity. It involves many of the things we discuss in this House with a view to making more progress on children's waiting times. It will have 22 operating theatres and procedure rooms and will provide every child and parent with a single en suite room. The days of parents having to sleep on hard floors at night as their children spend weeks, if not months, in hospital are coming to an end. The hospital will have 6,150 rooms and is located on 12 acres. This will be state of the art. I am pleased to say the hospital's elevated helipad is complete. This will be shared with St. James's Hospital and will offer rapid, safe access to key areas including critical care, theatres and the emergency department.

Everything the Deputy raises in this House, and that all of us in this House raise, demonstrates the necessity for this hospital. We know it cost more than originally intended. That is true. However, the Deputy has been covering finance for his party for a hell of a long time, so he will know that we have significantly changed the approach we take to the delivery of infrastructure. He will know of changes we have made only in recent weeks as to the role of the Department of public expenditure and reform. I guarantee the Deputy that when this hospital is open - the Committee of Public Accounts was told today that it is due to be completed by September and to start treating patients in 2026 - it will transform children's lives.

When we live in a country that is spending around €110 billion in an annual budget each and every year, investing just over €2 billion over a number of years for a hospital that will serve children well into the next century is a good and an appropriate thing to do. It will make a very significant difference to children's health services in this country.

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