Eamonn Coghlan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. Last week, 6 November was a great day when the announcement was made that the new national paediatric hospital would, at last, go ahead. Whichever site was chosen, there were always going to be disagreements as to the right location. The hospital in Crumlin was designed in 1936 and opened, eventually, 20 years later. It took 18 years from the time Tallaght hospital was designed until it opened. This debate has been going on for ten years. I hope it will not take another eight or ten years before the hospital is finally constructed.

A few moments ago, we heard how the children's rights referendum took 20 years to get this far and that there are lessons to be learned from what happened last weekend. Let us hope the lessons we have learned to date can be applied to what is going to happen in the new paediatric hospital on the St. James's Hopsital site and that we get it right this time.

The McKinsey report indicated that it was important for the paediatric hospital to be co-located with an adult hospital. From my experience as a fund-raiser for Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin for more than 20 years, I can emphasise that it is more important to have a maternity hospital located with a children's hospital. More than 500 emergencies go by ambulance from the maternity hospitals to Crumlin and Temple Street hospitals every year. A direct physical link from a maternity hospital to the children's hospital is most important to deal with these emergencies.

With regard to planning permission, is a maternity hospital included in the planning application? If not, will it be included in phase 2? I hope it is not left until phase 2, because no construction included in phase 2 of a hospital plan has ever been built. Planning permission for this hospital must include permission for a maternity hospital at exactly the same time in order that we know exactly where we stand now, not 20 years down the road.