Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 23 Feb 1999

Vol. 500 No. 7

Written Answers. - Hospital Services.

Róisín Shortall

Ceist:

321 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Health and Children the proposals, if any, he has to relocate the Children's Hospital, Temple Street, Dublin 1, on the campus of the new Mater Hospital, Dublin 7; when the work is due to commence; the timescale and cost of the construction; if the children's hospital will continue to have a full range of specialist and non-specialist paediatric services in the meantime; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5313/99]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

The relocation of the children's hospital, Temple Street, to the Mater Hospital campus has been under consideration by the religious orders who own the two hospitals. There is general consensus that the transfer would greatly enhance the quality of the paediatric hospital accommodation and would prove beneficial to both hospitals in terms of shared infrastructure support and complementary clinical services.

My Department is also strongly committed to the amalgamation of the two hospitals on a single site, particularly in the context of the urgent need to address the critical service issues in both hospitals of the overall development of paediatric services, and also the proposed establishment of the area health councils within the context of the eastern regional health authority.

In November 1997, I was pleased to be in a position to convey approval for the development of phase I of the Mater Hospital project at a cost limit of £25 million. In May 1998, I gave the go ahead for the appointment of the design team. Its initial task was the preparation of a development control plan for the entire Mater site, including the relocation of the children's hospital, Temple Street, followed by phase I of the development.

The Deputy will appreciate that to date it has not been possible to give a firm commitment to the timing of phase II, incorporating the children's hospital, but there is a general acceptance that in the interest of ensuring that paediatric services for north Dublin are maintained to a high standard, phase II should proceed as quickly as possible after the completion of phase I. My Department is currently in discussion with both agencies regarding the relocation of the children's hospital on the Mater Hospital campus. I am conscious that pending the implementation of the above proposals it is vital that existing services for children on the north side of the city are maintained to a high standard. For this reason, in June 1998, my Department approved funding of £1.6 million for the refurbishment of Temple Street hospital's accident and emergency department. Work is well advanced on the planning of this development.

The Deputy will be aware that the chairmen of the three Dublin paediatric hospitals recently undertook, at my Department's request, an examination of the role of the paediatric hospitals in the delivery and organisation of acute services in Dublin. The review group's report, submitted to the Department last year, contained a number of welcome proposals, in particular the establishment of a joint council comprising members from the three hospitals that would "identify specific actions needed to facilitate necessary changes and development". The intention is that they will work together on the policy and delivery of national and regional services in order to avoid duplication and get added value from pooling their resources.

My Department formally affirms its commitment to its continuing support for the three hospitals. In return, the Department will require that each of the three hospitals co-operate to the fullest extent in the provision of tertiary paediatric services and work closely to meet the regional needs of the east.

I am confident that these developments are evidence of this Government's commitment to the enhancement of paediatric services both on the north side of Dublin and at national level.