James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Senators for their comments and support. There is unanimity in the House that this project is worthy of a modern State. Many countries are judged by how they treat their most vulnerable and sick children fall into that category. Senator MacSharry alluded to a parallel process being run. There was no parallel process. There was a clear sequential process in that we had the Dolphin group report, then we had a member of the group do a further report on the relative costings because all the bidders put their best foot forward and in their enthusiasm some of the information might not have been as accurate as they believed and this had to be verified. There was a planning exercise given the risks and what had happened previously, where the focus was on the clinical primacy needs of co-location. This is the benefit we are seeking to achieve. A small country of 4.6 million people does not have the cohort of children to support the specialties that a country such as the UK does with a population of 60 million. Members have referred to Great Ormond Street as a stand-alone hospital. It can justify that because there is such a huge cohort of children. The hospital's chief executive officer was a member of the international group who kindly gave of her time freely and even she agreed unanimously with the other three members that co-location was by far the most preferable way to go.

I have walked the site and the planning issues have been mitigated considerably because it is much bigger than the Mater site. It is in excess of 6 hectares, which is much bigger than the 2.4 hectare site originally offered by St. James's Hospital.

This also provides a wonderful opportunity to rejuvenate part of old Dublin and lift that area of the city with the possibility of a new medical quarter in the city to rival the best in the world. Meetings have been held since the decision was made on the hospital regarding governance issues. I attended a meeting in this regard before I attended the Chamber with members of the national paediatric hospital board.

I highlighted in the other Chamber a number of issues that could not be addressed until the site was chosen and they primarily related to governance, information technology, which was a big miss in the planning process for the Mater Hospital site, and the ambulatory urgent care centres. Clearly until the site was chosen, I could not adjudicate on how many of these centres might be needed and I believe we need more than one.

Several Senators mentioned the need to maintain a safe environment in the interim while the hospital is under construction and I am acutely aware of this. This is a recurring theme. When I served on the Eastern Health Board years ago, I witnessed what happened at St. Ita's Hospital, Portrane, while we awaited the new psychiatric admission unit in Beaumont Hospital, which only opened a year ago. Reference was made to waiting 20 years for the children's hospital but we waited even longer for the unit in the Beaumount Hospital. Dreadful conditions pertained in the admission unit in St. Ita's Hospital for both the patents and the staff, which I highlighted in the past.

I am grateful we are moving ahead. Unfortunately, we do not have a capital budget that allows us to build all the hospitals we would like. I am acutely aware of the situation in our maternity hospitals and the difficulties there. We are looking at innovative ways to allow us to increase our capital fund to address the issues.

I refer to the issues raised by Senator Hayden in respect of parental accommodation and parking. These issues will be addressed. I thank Senator Crown for his support. I have some positive news in respect of children. This year, there are 800 fewer children on the list awaiting inpatient treatment than last year. Too many people are awaiting treatment still but we are moving close to achieving our goal of ensuring everyone in the childhood population is looked after within 20 weeks.

With regard to tobacco legislation, I share the concerns expressed by Senators Crown and Eamonn Coghlan. I have spoken to John Dalli directly to offer my personal support. I have spoken to several of the ministers in Europe and the interim Commissioner about the need to ensure the tobacco directive is progressed. It is a key part of our EU Presidency and we want to move it on. Everyone knows my view on tobacco, it robs children of a full life and the industry seeks to make addicts of young children. That is to be discouraged at every opportunity. Many people in Europe are very concerned at the manner of the Commissioner's resignation. In due course, I hope he gets to clear his good name. He was a great champion of tobacco control.

With regard to the point raised by Senator Cullinane, who has just left the Chamber, I assure Members that capital funding is secure for this project. Lottery funding of ¤200 million has been made available to us and the remainder is available in the capital budget. I have been very slow to say how much the hospital will cost because we are going to tender and the last thing I want to do is give those who will submit a tender the opportunity to take advantage of the information. Everyone knows that if there is a certain amount to be spent and we let people know the amount, that is what it will cost. We are looking for value for money.

Senator Eamonn Coghlan referred to the maternity hospital, as did others. The reports are quite clear that the optimal is bi-location if we can manage it but the most important thing is co-location with an adult hospital. Tri-location is our plan and the site will accommodate it. This is an important point when referring to the site at St. James's Hospital. It is large enough to accommodate not only the new national paediatric hospital but also a new maternity hospital and other developments. I hope I am not talking out of turn but I am given to understand that, in respect of education and research facilities, another area on the site is acceptable to Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin. That may remove the need for one floor in the new hospital, which mitigates further planning issues. St. James's Hospital has a long history in Dublin and has good relationships with its neighbours. It is part of the community and people feel it is their hospital. I went out to walk the site and meet management and I was at pains to point out that the local community should be engaged with to ensure there was full information in order that the plans did not intrude on local people too much. Obviously there will be some inconvenience during construction but I have absolute faith in the hospital's ability to do this in a manner that will minimise inconvenience.

I thank Senators for their support and assure them this will receive my serious attention. I expect to be given weekly updates and have monthly meetings to ensure this is expedited. We are looking at every legal and proper way to cut through red tape with regard to EU tendering, which causes so many delays. We will run as many matters as we can in parallel in order to avoid delays.

We need to be realistic - it could be late in 2017 or early in 2018. However, nothing would please me more than to surprise people by coming in much earlier and obviously well within budget.