Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 181: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will refer again to the issue of the National Children's Hospital at Tallaght and confirm that there are plans to maintain and develop a first class secondary care hospital with accident and emergency for south Dublin and surrounding areas in Tallaght for children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12249/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The development of the National Paediatric Hospital is being overseen by a joint HSE/Department of Health and Children Transition Group. The current stage of the process involves the preparation of a high level framework brief for the new hospital. The brief is being developed for the Transition Group by Rawlinson Kelly & Whittlestone Ltd (RKW), an established UK-based health care planning company. RKW will be advising on a range of issues which will help to inform the design of the new hospital. They will be advising, for example, on the preferred model of care, on the core services to be delivered at the new hospital, and on the additional range of services to be provided outside of the main hospital through the urgent/ambulatory care service, and on the location(s) for this service, taking account of international best practice in the planning of children's hospital services. To date, no decision has been taken in relation to the range of services to be provided at the National Children's Hospital at Tallaght in the context of the development of the National Paediatric Hospital and the associated urgent/ambulatory care service. RKW is consulting widely in the course of its work, and in this context the input of all stakeholders will be of benefit in ensuring the delivery of our shared objective of providing a world-class hospital for the children of this country.