Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 138: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of outpatient appointments that were cancelled or postponed due to the closure of the outpatients department at Our Lady's Hospital, Crumlin, Dublin 12 for the week 26 to 31 October 2009; the number of outpatients staff not on duty that week due to the closure; the savings involved; the way same was calculated. [2798/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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As this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 139: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the future role of Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, Dublin 12 if the National Paediatric Hospital is built on the Mater Hospital site. [2799/10]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 141: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she has reconsidered the decision not to select Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, Dublin 12 as a site for ambulatory service subsequent to the opening of a future National Pediatric Hospital on the Mater site, Dublin 7; the way the selected hospitals for such a service were selected; and the reason Crumlin was not selected. [2801/10]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 142: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the reason for continuing to build new facilities at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, Dublin 12 when a new National Pediatric Hospital is being built. [2802/10]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 144: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she or her officials have had discussions with the owners of the site of Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, Dublin 12 regarding future plans after the National Pediatric Hospital is built on the Mater Hospital site in Dublin 7. [2804/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 139, 141, 142 and 144 together.

The way to provide the best possible paediatric tertiary care most effectively involves the creation of one single national paediatric hospital, alongside a major teaching hospital, bringing together all the medical and nursing expertise for complex conditions. The concept of bringing together all three present services is widely accepted.

The development of the National Paediatric Hospital is a priority project for the Government. Rawlinson Kelly & Whittlestone Ltd (RKW), an established UK-based health care planning company, were commissioned to prepare a high level framework brief for the new paediatric hospital.

The Brief was to include advice 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. It was also to include an assessment of the range of services to be provided through the urgent/ambulatory care service, and on the preferred location(s) for this service.

The Brief considered a number of potential locations using the following criteria: access and travel times, critical mass, staffing implications and available infrastructure.

Among RKW's findings, which were announced by the HSE on 31st October, 2007, was that a network of Ambulatory and Urgent Care Centres should be established and operated by the new hospital. The first of these should be developed at Tallaght. The services to be provided will include urgent care consultations, outpatient appointments and day surgery.

The project is proceeding as planned and is being overseen by the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board which was established in May, 2007. The HSE is working closely with the Board in progressing the project, which is scheduled for completion and commissioning in 2014.

Services at Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin, National Children's Hospital Tallaght and the Children's University Hospital Temple Street will transfer to the new National Paediatric Hospital. Pending completion of the project, and to ensure the best possible services for children, the HSE will continue to finance the provision and development of services at each of the transferring hospitals.

The real challenge in paediatrics is to maximise the efficient use of all our healthcare capacity both in Dublin and across the country. Crumlin, Temple Street and Tallaght paediatric services need to be increasingly working in a coordinated, shared and efficient fashion to prepare for the eventual coming together of the three institutions into one national paediatric hospital.

I have been in contact with the CEO of the HSE and the CEO's of the three hospitals involved and have asked them to have governance arrangements put in place ahead of the opening of the new National Paediatric Hospital for the unified management of the services for children, provided by these hospitals, which will form the basis of the new hospital. In this context the HSE is actively pursuing ways in which services across the three hospitals can best be coordinated, to avoid unnecessary duplication and to achieve savings that can be put back into patient care. A Paediatric Hospitals Operations Group has now been established for ongoing network management and enhanced integration of the three paediatric hospitals in advance of the transfer to the new paediatric hospital.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 140: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the construction cost of the proposed National Pediatric Hospital on the site of Dublin's Mater Hospital, Dublin 7. [2800/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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The management and delivery of the health capital programme is a service matter for the Health Service Executive and the question has therefore been referred to the Executive for direct reply.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 143: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of construction works carried out at Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin, Dublin 12 over the past ten years; and the purpose and cost of each project. [2803/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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As this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.