Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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479. To ask the Minister for Health when the paediatric outpatients and urgent care centre at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown will open in 2019; if it will be impacted by the cost overrun with the national children’s hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6873/19]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Development is well advanced on the paediatric outpatients and urgent care centres. Works at Connolly are on target for practical completion of the building in the Spring with the opening scheduled for July 2019. Works at Tallaght are also underway with the centre scheduled to open in 2020.

The HSE National Service Plan for 2019 identifies as a priority the need to oversee the children's hospital development and development of paediatric services. This includes opening the new centre at Connolly in 2019, including the recruitment of the relevant staff to support the expansion of a consultant-delivered workforce and increased capacity through additional outpatient clinics. As set out in the 2019 HSE National Service Plan, development funding of €6.7m has been provided for a number of specific paediatric service initiatives, this includes revenue funding for the further recruitment of the workforce for the paediatric outpatients and urgent care centre on the campus shared with Connolly Hospital.

A total of 13 consultant posts are required and were approved by the Department of Health to support the opening of the Paediatric Outpatients and Urgent Care Centre at Connolly. Children’s Health Ireland, CHI, has confirmed that to date 10 of these positions have been filled and recruitment is ongoing for the remaining posts. Recruitment for nursing, HSCPS and administrative positions at the Centre is also at an advanced stage.

While it is acknowledged that there are recruitment challenges nationally, and internationally, in certain specialties such as radiology and this challenge has been shared by CHI, recruitment is ongoing, and Children’s Health Ireland at Connolly is on schedule to open in July 2019.