Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Again, I speak on this old chestnut at this stage. An rud atá á lorg agamsa inniu ná cinneadh ón Rialtas go mbeadh ainm an réabhlóidí, Dr. Kathleen Lynn, ar ospidéal na leanaí nua atá le hoscailt an bhliain seo chugainn. Dhéanfadh sé sin aitheantas dá obair mar dhochtúir agus mar cheannródaí mná, leanaí agus cearta. Bean chróga ab ea í ó Chontae Mhaigh Eo.

My proposal, since I first wrote to the then Minister for Health, former Deputy James Reilly in 2013, and the three Ministers for Health since then, is that the State would give due recognition to this daughter of Mullafarry, near Killala in County Mayo, given her contribution to Ireland in many fields, including pioneering in the male-dominated medical field in the late 1890s up to her death in 1955. Dr. Lynn had received her medical degree at the age of 25 and she continued caring for patients until she was in her 80s. Dr. Lynn died at the age of 81 and was buried at Deansgrange Cemetery in 1955. Dr. Lynn worked in Dublin's Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital and was a GP in Rathmines before she and a number of other female medics set up Teach Naomh Ultáin, St. Ultan's Hospital, which was a paediatric hospital that cared for those in crying need in this city at the time, and throughout the country. That was in 1919.

Given that we are coming to the end of the decade of centenaries, and given the site of the new children's hospital being built at the South Dublin Union at St. James' Hospital, it is appropriate to name the hospital after the only female commandant in charge of a republican garrison during the Rising. Dr. Kathleen Lynn had joined the Irish Citizens' Army on its founding in 1913, along with many other women. They helped out also during the Lock-out. Dr. Lynn was the Irish Citizens' Army's surgeon general and she took over the role of commandant in the City Hall outpost when Sean Connolly was shot dead on that roof very early in the republicans' occupation of City Hall. Dr. Lynn was arrested, held in Richmond Barracks and then sent to England. Dr. Lynn held firm and, in 1917, was on the reorganised Sinn Féin Ard Comhairle and was active during the War of Independence and the Civil War. Dr. Lynn was elected a Teachta Dála in 1923 for Dublin County and was a councillor for ten years, being one of the very early female Deputies. In recent weeks Dr. Lynn has been acknowledged at the bottom of the main staircase in Leinster House in a fabulous portrait, among many other views of women. I encourage people to look at that.

Dr. Lynn's hospital became famous for pioneering the care of children, especially towards the end of the Spanish flu epidemic and the roll-out of the BCG vaccine that helped to eradicate TB in Ireland. Given the past few years, naming the hospital after a female medic would also honour female medics of today and their role, along with the rest of the medical staff and teams in our hospitals today, in tackling the Covid pandemic. A Church of Ireland woman, Dr. Lynn's hospital was never allowed to prosper in the State and was sidelined until its closure in the 1980s. There was a proposal in 1935 that the hospital would be amalgamated with the State's national children's hospital, but this was opposed by the then Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Edward Byrne, who said that an amalgamation would undermine the faith of Catholic children and that it would not be safe. He said there would be a widespread attack on children's morals through the medium of medicine. Given the ongoing debate on the role of the Catholic church in institutional sex abuse then and after, this charge rings very hollow.

This would perhaps be another appropriate reason to name the hospital after Dr. Kathleen Lynn.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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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.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit and I thank her for going off-script. It is important that Ministers stand up once and for all and assert themselves. I have received the same answer for the five years since Children’s Health Ireland was set up. This is its role and it involves State and the public money. The campaign to have the national children's hospital named after Dr. Kathleen Lynn is not a party political one - Dr. Maurice Manning and Dr. Martin Mansergh have supported it, as have many other historians - and it not being pursued only on the basis of history. Dr. Lynn's legacy is bigger than the role she played on major historical occasions.

As we approach the end of the decade of centenaries, this being the final year, it would be appropriate for the process to be concluded quickly and the hospital named, even if that means the Minister or somebody else issuing guidance to Children’s Health Ireland. In addition, as the Minister of State said, we have a fabulous building, which I too have visited. Hopefully, it will do exactly what has been promised and the hospital will learn from the teachings of Dr. Kathleen Lynn and other revolutionary doctors, such as Dr. Dorothy Stopford Price, Dr. Madeleine ffrench-Mullen, and all the other medical staff. The first hospital was run by women from start to finish and they set the bar very high for every other paediatric hospital. I firmly believe that on that basis alone, this is an opportunity for us to reflect what was happening in Teach Naomh Ultan at 37 Charlemont Street way back then when the hospital was set up. We seemed to lose our way for a while but at least now there is the potential to have this new hospital. It is opening next year but will, I hope, be handed over very early in the new year and patients will see the benefit of it. Perhaps they would also see the benefit if it was named after Kathleen Lynn.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I would certainly love to see the hospital named after a strong, professional, capable woman. That would be wonderful. We have so many things named after men in every walk of life. I do not pretend to be qualified enough or to know enough to be able to assess Dr. Lynn's position in this relative to the other medics who might be in contention. When the hospital is opened I would love to see it named after a strong woman.

It seems to me, however, that when the Deputy asks a question regarding the process he should be given an answer on whether it has started, if there are plans to start it and when that will be. There is a campaign on this and the very least the State should do is to provide an answer, even if that means saying this is not being done yet but will be done on 1 March, or whenever. That would at least provide some clarity and an answer. The answer I was given for reply to the Deputy in the House was not adequate. The least people can do is provide clarity.