Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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378. To ask the Minister for Health the consultation his Department undertook with parents' groups, patient advocacy groups, staff and other stakeholders in respect of the location of the new children's hospital; when it undertook this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16871/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The new children's hospital will be co-located with St James's Hospital on its campus at Dublin 8, and ultimately tri-located with the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital, which will re-locate to the campus in due course. Satellite centres of the hospital, providing urgent and outpatient care, are to be built on the campuses of Connolly and Tallaght Hospitals. The decision of An Bord Pleanála on April 28 last to grant planning permission for the hospital, satellite centres and related buildings is a huge and very welcome milestone for the project, and means that construction can now commence on all three sites in the coming weeks and months.

At every stage of this project over the years, through the various reports and the design process, there has been extensive consultation with numerous stakeholders and interested parties.

In 2012, following the refusal by An Bord Pleanála of planning permission for the hospital at the Mater campus, Minister Reilly established the Dolphin Group to advise on next steps. The Group met with a range of stakeholder groups and interested parties, including advocacy groups such as the Jack and Jill foundation, Children in Hospital Ireland and the Youth Advisory Council, CEOs, clinicians, nurses and health and social care professionals from th existing hospitals, and representatives of children's research organisations.

Previous reports and reviews on the location also involved stakeholder consultation. The 2006 Joint HSE/Department of Health Task Force met with advocacy groups including Heart Children Ireland, Cystic Fibrosis Ireland, the Irish Patients Association and the New Crumlin Hospital Action Group, as well as with the existing hospitals and maternity hospitals. In 2011, an Independent Review Group established by Minister Reilly to review the project at the Mater campus also included stakeholder consultation as part of its work, consulting with parents and care givers as well as the hospitals themselves and the Faculty of Paediatrics.

During the design process for the hospital, there have also been extensive consultations with families, young people and children who are former or current users of the service, with staff of the existing hospitals, with clinical leads and with local residents. This process has led to the development of a world-class building which has been designed to enable staff to deliver the best possible clinical care for children and young people, while also seeking to provide a pleasant environment for staff and families.