Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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693. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the plans for the new maternity hospital at St. James's Hospital, Dublin 8; if a planning application has been lodged; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35822/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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In line with best international practice, it is Government policy that standalone maternity hospitals should be co-located with acute adult hospitals. The New Maternity Hospital at the St Vincent’s University Hospital Campus will be the first of these to be developed, with the Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital, the Rotunda Hospital and University Maternity Hospital, Limerick to follow in time.

The National Maternity Strategy, published in January 2016, reaffirms the commitment to the provision of maternity services on the St James's Campus and the tri-location of adult, children’s and maternity services at St James’s will create a centre of healthcare excellence for patients of all ages.

The relocation of the Coombe Hospital to the St James's site is at an early stage and has yet to progress to planning and design phases. Construction of the new children's hospital is currently underway on the St James’s site and construction of the new maternity hospital on that site will not commence until after the new children's hospital is completed. I can confirm, however, that the new children's hospital design has incorporated the required operational links with both the maternity and adult hospitals and that a site for the proposed maternity hospital is identified in the St James's campus Master Plan.