Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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180. To ask the Minister for Health his plans for the future delivery of paediatric hospital services at Tallaght hospital. [4408/14]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The new children's hospital, when built, will bring together Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin, Children's University Hospital Temple Street and the paediatric service at Tallaght Hospital in one state-of-the-art facility on the campus of St James's Hospital. A single national children's hospital, co-located with St James’s and, ultimately, tri-located with a maternity hospital, will provide the excellence in clinical care that our children deserve.

As part of previous plans for the new children's hospital on the campus of the Mater Hospital, it had been intended that there would be an ambulatory and urgent care centre on the campus of Tallaght Hospital. Following the Government decision in November 2012 to locate the main new children's hospital at St James's, a review of the ambulatory and urgent care centre plan was undertaken. This has now been completed and yesterday I announced that satellite centres of the new children's hospital would be developed on the campuses of Tallaght Hospital and of Connolly Hospital.

As well as being a national tertiary hospital for more complex care, the new children's hospital is a regional hospital for children in the Greater Dublin Area. These satellite centres will be an integral part of the hospital, under the same governance and management, providing the same clinical standards and with the same staff who will rotate through the main hospital and the satellite centres. Each centre will provide consultant-delivered urgent care, with observation beds (up to 6 hours stay) and appropriate diagnostics (X-ray and laboratory). The vast majority of children and young people attending the centre are expected to be treated and discharged. In addition to providing local access for urgent care, the centres will also provide local access to outpatient care, including general paediatric rapid access clinics for GP referral.

The announcement of these satellite centres marks another important milestone for the new children' s hospital, further ensuring that we will deliver better outcomes for our children and young people, well into the future.

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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181. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to honour his previously stated commitment to move the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital to Tallaght; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4409/14]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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A comprehensive review of maternity and gynaecology services in the greater Dublin area was completed in 2008. The KPMG Independent Review of Maternity and Gynaecology Services in the Greater Dublin Area Report was informed by an international analysis of maternity and gynaecology service configurations and best practice models of care.

The report noted that Dublin’s model of stand-alone maternity hospitals is not the norm internationally. It recommended that the Dublin maternity hospitals should be located alongside adult acute services and that one of the three new Dublin maternity facilities should be built on the site of the new children’s hospital (tri-location of paediatric, maternity and adult services). In this context the proposal was that the National Maternity Hospital was to be relocated to St Vincent's, the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital to Tallaght and the Rotunda to the Mater. In May this year, I announced the relocation of the National Maternity Hospital to the St Vincent’s campus.

Recognising the need to plan for the provision of tri-located maternity, paediatric and adult services, and in view of the Government decision to locate the new children’s hospital on the St James campus, it will be necessary to review the other maternity-adult co-location plans. This review will take place in the context of the development of a National Maternity Strategy. I confirmed on 10 October last that my Department will lead the development of this Strategy in collaboration with the HSE and its National Clinical Programme in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The Strategy will provide the blueprint for the safe, effective delivery of maternity services nationally. The development of the Strategy will build on the work already undertaken as part of the KPMG Independent Review, and on the work underway by the Clinical Programme.