Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, for attending. It is disappointing that the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, has not come to this House this evening to clarify the comment made by the HSE's director general, Mr. Tony O'Brien, at the meeting of the Committee on the Future of Healthcare yesterday. Given that it fell to Mr. O'Brien to tell members of the committee that this project was in jeopardy, it is not surprising that the Minister has not attended and has instead sent his Minister of State to provide clarity on the matter. Notwithstanding my disappointment that the Minister has not attended the House this evening, I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, to the House to represent the Government. I hope she will provide a clear and transparent account of the status of the project given the comments made by Mr. O'Brien yesterday. I acknowledge she understands the need to provide clarity not only to every family whose children required hospital services but also to those living in the locality of St James's. Residents in the Rialto area deserve to be kept up to speed on the status of the project.

I would like the Minister of State to clarify whether the statement made at the health committee yesterday by Mr. O'Brien, namely, that the HSE cannot afford to progress this matter, is accurate. If so, what exactly does it mean? Does it mean the entire proposal to build the hospital at the St. James's site is to be shelved? Why did it require a HSE official to deliver that news yesterday to an Oireachtas committee? Why did the Minister himself not deliver the news if the hospital project was in jeopardy? Could the Minister set out how much taxpayers' money has been invested in developing proposals for the St. James's site to date? I will be getting my colleague to ask a parliamentary question to obtain this information in due course.

Questions need to be asked of the Department of Health and the HSE regarding why the State is facing a bill of an additional €300 million for the much-needed national children's hospital. It is extraordinary how the reported costs have increased by 50% in one year. Over five years ago, Fianna Fáil welcomed the decision on the new national paediatric hospital and it urged the Government to expedite the design, planning and development process. We consistently maintained that a new hospital for children and maternity care was essential to bring about world-class health care and the best possible outcomes for our children. Unlike others, we had never sought to score political points on issues as serious as these.

The reports of late have indicated that the minimum cost of the new hospital will now reach more than €1 billion. Indeed, it may reach as much as €1.2 billion, with other ancillary costs not included. That is a significant proportion of the HSE's capital budget. The money needs to be spent but what about the additional acute hospital beds that are needed around the country and the other capital projects? Ireland needs a children's hospital. We cannot have circumstances, nearly 100 years after the foundation of the State, in which the most sick children are being treated in the most substandard facilities or not treated at all, as we have seen in the "Prime Time Investigates" programme. I really would like an answer to the four questions I have asked as a matter of priority.