Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Devine. I am sorry. I will reply to what questions I can. If I cannot answer, I will take them with me and consult the Minister.

The Government is firmly behind the building of the new national children's hospital. At no time during the process did I hear objections from any of the area's Deputies.

I will start with Senator Nash's contribution. He was a Minister of State in the previous Government. I acknowledge the work that was done to restore the economy to its current position. Everyone recognises that we are not out of the woods yet. No one will recklessly spend money that we do not have. I commit to that.

We are not on a one-way train. We are at a critical point with the national children's hospital. The Minister has pointed out that the cost increase is 5% of the overall projected cost. It is important to keep that in mind. Every last cent should be extracted. The people who will pay for the national children's hospital are the taxpayers. Therefore, we do not have the right to exceed limits. There must be limits and we have to adhere to those that are in place. Now that the builder has been appointed, a significant limit has been reached.

I will not read through the Department's speech, but I recognise some of the issues with running the hospital, for example, bed capacity. These are questions for the future.

I acknowledge the comments of Senator Kelleher, who has left the Chamber. I hope that she hears this later, but no words of sympathy from me, any other public figure or anyone in the country could sufficiently acknowledge the suffering of the children in the television programme. As public representatives, we have a collective duty to ensure that everything is done to help those who are suffering and in distress, young children in particular. I was happy to hear the Minister's commitment yesterday to open the new operating theatre in Crumlin hospital and get it into action as soon as possible. I visited it a while ago and was impressed by the standards. It is important that we keep this matter in focus.

I will make a few comments on Senator Devine's contribution. I know of her local work on the ground. I have been involved in many consultative processes - Fatima Mansions, St. Teresa's Gardens, Dolphin House, etc. - and have never seen as much consultation as there has been on the national children's hospital, and rightly so. It will serve every sick child in the country and his or her family. The wide consultation process of the past two years was attended by every community group, family, relative of a sick child, neighbourhood and staff member that would be affected by the complex's service and wanted to attend. Like the Senator, I attended a number of the oral hearings over the two weeks-----