John Crown (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome an Aire. I begin by saying, unambiguously, well done and congratulations to the Minister. It was a good decision. In a country with six medical schools for 4.5 million people - twice the European average and three times the North American average - it was pretty obvious that people were going to be unhappy no matter which affiliated institution was chosen for this. There really was a necessity to pick the best place. There were a number of good places but this clearly was one of the best ones. St. James's Hospital, in the Irish context, is a very fine hospital and it has a full range of support and high quality services and high quality academic connections, again in the Irish context, and I have no doubt it will make a very fine fist of it.

There were a number of arguments to be made in favour of alternative sites and the Minister may still hear some of the disgruntled adherents of other sites still making arguments at this stage. I beg and beseech for ciúnas among my colleagues, regardless of their institutional affiliation at this stage. The decision has been made and let us support it.

There is still the hurdle of what I have, rather uncharitably, termed "An Bord Faulty Pleanálty" to overcome. We should not give any ammunition to any argument from a group that feels there is still a viable alternative. Any other decision at this stage will just cause delays, and as there are no manifestly superior sites, we should proceed with this one.

I draw the Minister's attention to two problems. There will inevitably be a tendency for a freeze to occur on much-needed first aid measures in the existing children's hospitals with a mantra of waiting until the new place is built. There will be deficiencies affecting the health of living children and the services must formulate creative ways to deal with the issue. We understand that it would not be wise to make major infrastructural investments in any of the existing institutions that will close but we must ensure that some of the appalling waiting list issues in children's medical and surgical services are not just put on the long finger until the arrival of the nirvana of the opening of the new national children's hospital.

There may be some apparently regrettable duplicate investments in the short term to ensure waiting lists are dealt with. I am sure the Government is considering whether, in the short term, certain specialist surgical services with unacceptable waiting lists can be outsourced from the country temporarily until the new hospital is built.

Concentration facilitates quality but does not ensure it. The fundamental reform of the health system and how the hospital system is paid for will have a much bigger effect on the quality of health care in this country than any reorganisation of either hospital networks or integration into solitary specialist hospitals. I urge the Minister to ensure he keeps his eye very firmly on that prize because until we get fundamental reform of the way we pay and finance the health service, our system will be mediocre, and there is no other interpretation in that regard.

I am a little newer to the political arena than the Minister but I am a fast learner. While he is in the House, I will shamelessly tack on some questions for his consideration. Ireland will assume a senior role in Europe in January as the country takes on the European Union Presidency and I hope the Minister will use the opportunity to seriously advance some anti-smoking initiatives that we are considering. Our legislation banning smoking in cars in which children are present appears to be stuck between Departments. In the health committee on Thursday we will introduce a motion that Leinster House, in its entirety both inside and out, will be made a smoke-free zone like HSE hospitals.

In the past week we have begun a major initiative targeted at Europe and the Government to get the European Commission and the European Parliament to agree to the notion that by 2030, it would be illegal to do any commerce in tobacco in the European Union. With 17 years to lead into this process, this quixotic ideal is possible.

Will the Minister determine if appropriate inquiries are being made into the circumstances of the resignation of the former Commissioner Dalli? I attended the European Parliament last week wearing my European oncology hat rather than my Seanad hat and there is substantial speculation that Mr. Dalli, who had a very firm anti-tobacco agenda in his position, found himself in rather surprising circumstances being forced to step down. It has been suggested, although we do not know if there is a basis to the claim, that he may have been the victim of dirty tricks by those with a vested interest in opposing attempts to rein in the tobacco industry.

I congratulate the Minister on the decision made on the national children's hospital and look forward to a very productive six months when the Minister is in charge of Europe's health initiatives.