Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Health the reason he has left 12 seats vacant on the board to develop the National Children's Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7503/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The decision to locate the new children's hospital at the St. James's Hospital campus was announced on 6 November 2012. Co-location, and ultimately tri-location with a maternity hospital, on the St. James's campus will support the provision of excellence in clinical care that our children deserve.

Following the announcement of the Government decision, detailed consideration has been given to the project management structures and governance arrangements required to enable delivery of the project as quickly as possible and to the highest quality. In this regard I intend to restructure the national paediatric hospital development board and establish a children's hospital group which will include the three existing paediatric hospitals. The restructured national paediatric hospital development board will focus on the capital project only. The membership of the restructured board will align with this core function and include the necessary capital development expertise.

The required legislation will, inevitably, take some time and as the terms of office of the majority of board members expired on 5 December, I have appointed senior representatives from my Department and the HSE as an interim measure aimed at ensuring effective governance and decision-making for the project. At this important initial transitional stage it is crucial that the project continues without delay. The Government's priority is to ensure that the project proceeds securely to completion as quickly as possible and with optimal results. I am confident that the project management and governance structures now being put in place will enable the fastest possible delivery of this key infrastructure for children's hospital services.

Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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I call on Deputy Kelleher to comment. If you keep to the question we can get both Deputies in on all questions.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will keep to the question. Everyone welcomes that a decision was finally made on the location of the national children's hospital and that the site designated was at St. James's Hospital. We all remember the debates about the Mater hospital site, the allegations of political interference and all the associated nonsense that was propagated at the time.

The concern is that the Minister is now referring to establishing the national paediatric development board for the capital project and then streamlining with Dr. Jim Browne from Galway to bring the hospitals of Temple Street, Crumlin and Tallaght together. The key question is whether there will be a diminution of services in these three hospitals prior to the opening of the national paediatric hospital at the St. James's campus. This is an issue of key concern because we are unsure when the national children's hospital will be completed. Is there a timeframe, assuming everything goes according to plan and everything that flows from that? My concern, shared by many people working in the hospitals in Temple Street, Crumlin and Tallaght, is that there will be a diminution of services. They do not expect vast capital investment in these three places if they are to be wound down, but in the meantime children deserve the best quality treatment in reasonable surroundings. This is something about which people working at the coalface are concerned.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I am pleased that Deputy Kelleher has referred to Dr. Jim Browne. I believe he will make an excellent chair of the new children's hospital group. One problem has been the need to separate some of the functions of the previous board to get the required result. I assure the Deputy and all those concerned with delivering care to children in this country that there is no intention on our part to have any diminution of care.

As the Deputy rightly pointed out it would be rather foolish to spend large sums of money on capital development at any of the three hospitals concerned, but that does not mean that the care of children there will change, save to say that it will continue to improve and as new developments and techniques become available, we expect that they will become available at the current centres. Certainly, it is our intention to encourage the new children's hospital group to act as a unit. We want to pre-empt some of the difficulties that occurred in the past such as those we have seen on the boards of other hospitals that have come together. We want people to leave behind their old hats and remember that this is a national paediatric hospital. It is not three Dublin paediatric hospitals coming together but a national paediatric hospital and it is appropriate that the chair should come from outside Dublin, and this is the case.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Following in the same vein, does the Minister not understand and accept that there is mighty concern given the fact that the budgetary allocation for Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin and the Children's University Hospital, Temple Street have been cut significantly in the current year while other hospitals have secured deserved increases? This has occurred against the backdrop of coalface service providers in both hospital sites indicating that they have insufficient resources to maintain and sustain current levels of care provision. It is not about capital allocation but current need. The fact that both of these budgets have been cut is sending out a negative signal.

In a reply to a previous parliamentary question in December on board membership, we identified 64 vacant positions on boards under the Minister's specific aegis. What is the current situation in all of the various bodies? I understand that as of today, there are still four vacancies on the HIQA board. This is incredible after all this time and despite all the attention paid to the large number of vacancies across a plethora of boards that come under the Department's remit.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Ó Caoláin referred to the cuts to the budgets of the children's hospitals. Let us consider the budgets for all hospitals.

The Minister announced with great fanfare that they had been increased but when one factors in the budget deficits and overdraft facilities, very few hospitals received an increase for 2013.

With regard to the amalgamation of the three children's hospitals, there appears to be a view that we should start shrinking the budgets and extracting greater efficiencies while driving towards the national children's hospitals. In the meantime, however, children are being treated in three different hospitals and they deserve the best financial support we can provide. I hope there is no reluctance to embrace advances in medical technology and pediatric care because facilities may have to be moved to the national children's hospital at a later stage. These matters should not be long-fingered or delayed.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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There will be no such effort on our part to reduce the care available to children. I am acutely aware from my involvement in medicine that the window of opportunity for best outcomes for children is often quite short and that several procedures may be required over a period of time. Nothing of that nature will be allowed to happen.

In regard to budgets, had we kept to the normal way of doing business every hospital in the country would have required a 3% budgetary decrease. We gave hospitals a reasonable chance of success because many of the budgets in the past were unrealistic and unattainable. The idea that even though a hospital may have been over budget during the previous year it would face a further 3% cut in the current year was not sensible. We moved on to outcomes.

The common governance structure that will apply to the three children's hospitals during the transition will allow them to act as one in procurement and staffing. This will be hugely beneficial in terms of savings. There are fewer staff and less money in the system. Without trying to make political points, Deputy Kelleher and I know that is the case because of the mess his Government left for the country. We want to focus on patient outcomes not on inputs such as how many doctors, nurses or billions of euro are in the system. We want to achieve better outcomes for patients in terms of how many are treated and how long they have to wait. We have improved the number of people who have to endure trolley waits by 24%. Where children are concerned, the improvement in the number who wait 20 weeks or longer is 98%.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The trolleys are being hidden.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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As an elderly lady once said to me, the truth is not fragile and it will not break. The truth is that there have been significant improvements in the number of people who endure trolley waits or have to wait longer than nine months or wait longer than 12 weeks for endoscopies.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister is not addressing the issues raised.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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All of these areas have seen improvements of between 95% and 99%. That is something Fianna Fáil failed to do over 14 years when it had buckets of money. We have done it in two years. I thank the excellent men and women who work in our health service for the changes they have embraced. This is something they have yearned to do for years.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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When will the Minister fill the vacancies on the boards?