Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As Senator Eamonn Coghlan has probably gathered, I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar. I am responsible for many things but, fortunately, acute hospitals is not one of them.

I thank the Senator for raising this important issue in which we all have an interest. As decided by the Government in November 2012, the new children's hospital will be co-located with St James's hospital in Dublin 8. The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board has responsibility for planning, design, building and equipping the new hospital. A project brief has been approved and a design team is in place. The aim is to make a planning application in June 2015.

The Government's intention is that a maternity hospital will be developed on the campus in the future, achieving tri-location of adult, paediatric and maternity services. This is consistent with the recommendations of the 2008 KPMG report, Independent Review of Maternity and Gynaecology Services in the Greater Dublin Area. That report proposed that the National Maternity Hospital be relocated to St. Vincent's, the Coombe to Tallaght and the Rotunda to the Mater, achieving co-location of maternity and adult services in all cases, and tri-location of adult, paediatric and maternity services at the Mater. With the decision to move the children's hospital to the St James's campus, these previous plans must be reviewed in respect of the Coombe and the Rotunda - the relocation of the National Maternity Hospital is already underway. That review is now being commenced and will be completed in early 2015. This is a first step in progressing the future tri-located maternity hospital.

Given the ultimate aim of tri-location, the Minister wished to examine the feasibility of seeking planning permission for both the maternity and the children's hospital at the same time. He was very conscious, however, of the need to avoid any delay in the children's hospital. Accordingly, he asked the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board for its view on whether an outline planning permission application for a maternity hospital could be prepared by June 2015, in line with the children's hospital schedule. The development board's planning experts have advised that for a project of this scale, any planning permission application would require significant preparatory work. This would include: development of a design brief, setting out capacity and accommodation; procurement of a new design team; and design development. In the board's view, this could not be done by June 2015 and would require at least an additional six to nine months. The Minister has no intention of introducing a delay to the children's hospital project, and accordingly does not intend to request the board to seek planning permission for a maternity hospital at this stage.

The development board has advised that in submitting its planning application for the children's hospital, it intends as a matter of good planning practice to provide full information on all known future developments for the St James's campus, including the maternity hospital. This will enable An Bord Pleanála to consider the children's hospital planning application in the context of future plans for the campus. The Minister is fully committed to tri-location of adult, paediatric and maternity hospitals on the St James's campus.

The first priority is ensuring that the new children's hospital proceeds to schedule and is delivered on time for the children of Ireland. In parallel, the review of maternity hospital locations for the greater Dublin area will be completed, as a first step in progressing the future maternity hospital.

I think that answers some of the Senator's questions.