National Children's Hospital: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]

The following motion was moved by Deputy Mattie McGrath on Wednesday, 29 March 2017:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes:

— the urgent need to develop appropriately sited, world class prenatal, perinatal and paediatric medical services for all the nation’s children and their families;

— the critical need for a short corridor-linked or full service maternity hospital, integrated with the National Children’s Hospital to prevent the current situation of avoidable death and disability in newborn infants;

— that the existing hospital infrastructure that caters for sick children is no longer fit for purpose;

— that the shortage of specialised nursing and medical staff is a serious impediment in attaining optimal medical outcomes for children, which will be aggravated by the proposed site;

— that the cost of construction of the National Children’s Hospital has increased from €404 million in 2012, to approximately €1.1 billion and rising in 2017;

— the recent doubling of the estimated cost of building the National Maternity Hospital on a brownfield as opposed to a greenfield site, at St. Vincent's University Hospital, and that differential would also apply to the St. James's Hospital site;

— that the creation of a site at St. James's Hospital to accommodate a maternity hospital will prove hugely expensive, requiring major additional rebuilding of the adult hospital;

— that the assessment of the National Children’s Hospital project by An Bord Pleanála did not adequately address several important aspects of the proposal relating to the medical functioning of the site;

— that, due to the restricted nature of the proposed St. James's Hospital site, parking provision for the National Children’s Hospital is dramatically lower and hugely more expensive than that of international comparator hospitals;

— that the Independent Review of the National Children’s Hospital project (2011) and the Review Group on the National Children's Hospital (2012) stated that it would be 25 per cent less expensive to build on a greenfield site than on an urban site; and

— that accessibility to the proposed St. James's Hospital site for patients, staff and medical personnel will lead to extreme levels of congestion and increase the risks of adverse medical outcomes;

acknowledges:

— the commitments given in the Programme for a Partnership Government to develop a world class National Children’s Hospital;

— the desire of all political parties, groups and members to improve and prioritise medical outcomes for the nation’s sick children; and

— the significant financial commitments given by the Minister for Health and the Government to progress the National Children’s Hospital project; and

calls on the Government to:

— provide evidence to support their repeated claim of improved clinical outcomes resulting from adult hospital co-location;

— undertake a full cost-benefit analysis on all aspects of the National Children’s Hospital project, as required by the Department of Finance’s Guidelines for the Appraisal and Management of Capital Expenditure Proposals in the Public Sector;

— ensure that all the requirements of the Public Spending Code have been met;

— clarify the exact mandate, statutory and legal standing of the Children’s Hospital Group Board and the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board;

— justify the costs related to the construction of the National Children’s Hospital at St. James's Hospital;

— reconsider the co-location of the National Children’s Hospital with the new Rotunda Maternity Hospital, and in the event of opposition to this reconsideration, to justify, on clinical grounds, why such co-location cannot occur;

— ensure all the requirements of the Public Spending Code in relation to the maternity hospital development are met before the construction contract of the children’s hospital is awarded by Cabinet, as absence of such an assessment would indicate failure of the Government’s duty of care to its newborn citizens, and that tri-location is not a commitment by the sanctioning authority (the Department of Health); and

— utilise any site preparation work already started at St. James's Hospital, to develop a satellite Children’s Urgent Care Centre and further adult services.

Debate resumed on amendment No. 2:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:

“notes:

— the urgent need to develop an appropriately sited, world class facility to care for children and young people from all over Ireland who are in need of specialist and complex care;

— that clinical considerations were paramount in the decision by the Government in 2012 to co-locate the new National Children’s Hospital with St. James’s Hospital, in line with independent reviews affirming the importance of co-location with a major adult academic teaching hospital;

— that the Government decision to proceed with the construction of the new National Children’s Hospital on the St. James’s Hospital campus was endorsed by the Dáil in 2012;

— the Government decision to re-develop the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital on the St. James’s Hospital campus, in the context of achieving tri-location of adult, paediatric and maternity services on that campus as the optimum configuration to best support paediatrics, highly complex foetal and high risk maternal medicine, and chronic disease management in young people;

— the capacity of the site at St. James’s Hospital to accommodate the new National Children’s Hospital and maternity hospital, and the incorporation into the design of the National Children’s Hospital of the required operational links with both maternity and adult hospitals on the St. James’s Hospital campus;

— that St. James’s is the hospital best served by public transport in the country, including easy access to the M50 and Heuston Station, and that safe underground car parking for 1,000 cars, including 675 dedicated to patients and families and 31 drop-off emergency spaces, will be provided and be commercially funded;

— the Government decision to develop satellite centres on the campuses of Tallaght Hospital and Connolly Hospital which will be easily accessible to local populations for the management of minor illness and injuries, and attendance at outpatient and chronic disease clinics;

— that planning permission, unanimously granted by An Bord Pleanála in April 2016, supported the development of the hospital on the St. James’s Hospital site and the satellite centres at Tallaght Hospital and Connolly Hospital; and

— the vision of the new National Children’s Hospital as a research-intensive, academic healthcare institution and the potential to attract and retain specialised nursing and medical staff and health and social care professionals;

acknowledges:

— the commitments given in the Programme for a Partnership Government to develop a world class children’s hospital;

— the desire of all political parties, groups and members to improve and prioritise medical outcomes for the nation’s sick children;

— the significant financial commitments given by the Minister for Health and the Government to progress the National Children’s Hospital project, including the availability of €650 million Exchequer funding earmarked for the core construction costs of the hospital and associated satellite centres;

— the progress made to date as the first phase of construction (site clearing works) on the site of the new hospital will be substantially completed within a matter of weeks;

— that the new National Children’s Hospital accommodation is being designed to ensure that children and young people receive their care in the best organised and most clinically suitable setting, with facilities for parents to comfortably stay overnight;

— the link between the hospital and local and regional paediatric units, through an integrated national clinical network aimed at delivering services to children as close to home as possible;

— the robust governance arrangements in place to manage and oversee the new National Children’s Hospital project;

— the adherence to the Public Spending Code requirements at all stages of the project;

— the Minister for Health’s intention to bring a Memorandum to Government shortly on the new National Children’s Hospital, setting out full details of the project costs; and

— the Minister for Health’s intention to bring a General Scheme to Government shortly, seeking permission to draft legislation establishing the new National Children’s Hospital as a statutory body to take over the services provided by the three existing Dublin paediatric hospitals; and

supports the Government priority to make progress on the new hospital on the St. James’s Hospital campus and satellite centres at Connolly Hospital and Tallaght Hospital as soon as possible, to support best clinical outcomes for children and young people in Ireland.”

- (Minister for Health)

An Ceann Comhairle

I must now deal with a postponed division relating to amendment No. 2 to the motion regarding the national children's hospital. On Wednesday, 29 March 2017, on the question that the amendment to the motion be agreed to, a division was claimed, and in accordance with Standing Order 70(2), that division must be taken now.

Amendment put:

The Dáil divided: Tá, 57; Níl, 38; Staon, 44.

Tá

Bailey, Maria.
Barrett, Seán.
Breen, Pat.
Brophy, Colm.
Broughan, Thomas P.
Bruton, Richard.
Burke, Peter.
Byrne, Catherine.
Canney, Seán.
Cannon, Ciarán.
Carey, Joe.
Collins, Joan.
Corcoran Kennedy, Marcella.
Coveney, Simon.
Creed, Michael.
D'Arcy, Michael.
Daly, Jim.
Deasy, John.
Deering, Pat.
Doherty, Regina.
Donohoe, Paschal.
Doyle, Andrew.
Durkan, Bernard J.
English, Damien.
Farrell, Alan.
Fitzgerald, Frances.
Flanagan, Charles.
Griffin, Brendan.
Harris, Simon.
Howlin, Brendan.
Humphreys, Heather.
Kelly, Alan.
Kyne, Seán.
McEntee, Helen.
McGrath, Finian.
McHugh, Joe.
McLoughlin, Tony.
Madigan, Josepha.
Mitchell O'Connor, Mary.
Moran, Kevin Boxer.
Murphy, Eoghan.
Naughten, Denis.
Naughton, Hildegarde.
Neville, Tom.
Noonan, Michael.
O'Connell, Kate.
O'Donovan, Patrick.
O'Sullivan, Jan.
O'Sullivan, Maureen.
Phelan, John Paul.
Ring, Michael.
Rock, Noel.
Ryan, Brendan.
Sherlock, Sean.
Stanton, David.
Varadkar, Leo.
Zappone, Katherine.

Níl

Barry, Mick.
Boyd Barrett, Richard.
Brady, John.
Buckley, Pat.
Collins, Michael.
Connolly, Catherine.
Coppinger, Ruth.
Crowe, Seán.
Cullinane, David.
Daly, Clare.
Doherty, Pearse.
Ellis, Dessie.
Ferris, Martin.
Fitzmaurice, Michael.
Funchion, Kathleen.
Grealish, Noel.
Harty, Michael.
Healy-Rae, Danny.
Healy-Rae, Michael.
Healy, Seamus.
Kenny, Gino.
Lowry, Michael.
McDonald, Mary Lou.
McGrath, Mattie.
Mitchell, Denise.
Munster, Imelda.
Nolan, Carol.
Ó Broin, Eoin.
Ó Caoláin, Caoimhghín.
Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
O'Reilly, Louise.
Pringle, Thomas.
Quinlivan, Maurice.
Smith, Bríd.
Stanley, Brian.
Tóibín, Peadar.
Wallace, Mick.

Staon

Aylward, Bobby.
Brassil, John.
Browne, James.
Butler, Mary.
Byrne, Thomas.
Cahill, Jackie.
Calleary, Dara.
Casey, Pat.
Cassells, Shane.
Chambers, Jack.
Chambers, Lisa.
Cowen, Barry.
Curran, John.
Donnelly, Stephen S.
Fleming, Sean.
Gallagher, Pat The Cope.
Haughey, Seán.
Kelleher, Billy.
Lahart, John.
Lawless, James.
MacSharry, Marc.
McConalogue, Charlie.
McGrath, Michael.
McGuinness, John.
Martin, Catherine.
Martin, Micheál.
Moynihan, Aindrias.
Moynihan, Michael.
Murphy O'Mahony, Margaret.
Murphy, Catherine.
Murphy, Eugene.
O'Brien, Darragh.
O'Callaghan, Jim.
O'Dea, Willie.
O'Keeffe, Kevin.
O'Loughlin, Fiona.
O'Rourke, Frank.
Rabbitte, Anne.
Ryan, Eamon.
Scanlon, Eamon.
Shortall, Róisín.
Smith, Brendan.
Smyth, Niamh.
Troy, Robert.

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Regina Doherty and Tony McLoughlin; Níl, Deputies Mattie McGrath and Michael Harty.

Amendment declared carried.

2 o'clock

Question put: "That the motion, as amended, be agreed to."

The Dáil divided: Tá, 58; Níl, 18; Staon, 61.

Tá

Bailey, Maria.
Barrett, Seán.
Breen, Pat.
Brophy, Colm.
Broughan, Thomas P.
Bruton, Richard.
Burke, Peter.
Byrne, Catherine.
Canney, Seán.
Cannon, Ciarán.
Carey, Joe.
Collins, Joan.
Corcoran Kennedy, Marcella.
Coveney, Simon.
Creed, Michael.
D'Arcy, Michael.
Daly, Jim.
Deasy, John.
Deering, Pat.
Doherty, Regina.
Donohoe, Paschal.
Doyle, Andrew.
Durkan, Bernard J.
English, Damien.
Farrell, Alan.
Fitzgerald, Frances.
Flanagan, Charles.
Griffin, Brendan.
Harris, Simon.
Howlin, Brendan.
Humphreys, Heather.
Kelly, Alan.
Kyne, Seán.
McEntee, Helen.
McGrath, Finian.
McHugh, Joe.
McLoughlin, Tony.
Madigan, Josepha.
Martin, Catherine.
Mitchell O'Connor, Mary.
Murphy, Eoghan.
Naughten, Denis.
Naughton, Hildegarde.
Neville, Tom.
Noonan, Michael.
O'Connell, Kate.
O'Donovan, Patrick.
O'Sullivan, Jan.
O'Sullivan, Maureen.
Phelan, John Paul.
Ring, Michael.
Rock, Noel.
Ryan, Brendan.
Ryan, Eamon.
Sherlock, Sean.
Stanton, David.
Varadkar, Leo.
Zappone, Katherine.

Níl

Barry, Mick.
Boyd Barrett, Richard.
Collins, Michael.
Connolly, Catherine.
Coppinger, Ruth.
Daly, Clare.
Fitzmaurice, Michael.
Grealish, Noel.
Harty, Michael.
Healy-Rae, Danny.
Healy-Rae, Michael.
Healy, Seamus.
Kenny, Gino.
Lowry, Michael.
McGrath, Mattie.
Pringle, Thomas.
Smith, Bríd.
Wallace, Mick.

Staon

Aylward, Bobby.
Brady, John.
Brassil, John.
Browne, James.
Buckley, Pat.
Butler, Mary.
Byrne, Thomas.
Cahill, Jackie.
Calleary, Dara.
Casey, Pat.
Cassells, Shane.
Chambers, Jack.
Chambers, Lisa.
Cowen, Barry.
Crowe, Seán.
Cullinane, David.
Curran, John.
Doherty, Pearse.
Donnelly, Stephen S.
Ellis, Dessie.
Ferris, Martin.
Fleming, Sean.
Funchion, Kathleen.
Gallagher, Pat The Cope.
Haughey, Seán.
Kelleher, Billy.
Lahart, John.
Lawless, James.
MacSharry, Marc.
McConalogue, Charlie.
McDonald, Mary Lou.
McGrath, Michael.
McGuinness, John.
Martin, Micheál.
Mitchell, Denise.
Moynihan, Aindrias.
Moynihan, Michael.
Munster, Imelda.
Murphy O'Mahony, Margaret.
Murphy, Catherine.
Murphy, Eugene.
Nolan, Carol.
Ó Broin, Eoin.
Ó Caoláin, Caoimhghín.
Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
O'Brien, Darragh.
O'Dea, Willie.
O'Keeffe, Kevin.
O'Loughlin, Fiona.
O'Reilly, Louise.
O'Rourke, Frank.
Quinlivan, Maurice.
Rabbitte, Anne.
Scanlon, Eamon.
Shortall, Róisín.
Smith, Brendan.
Smyth, Niamh.
Stanley, Brian.
Tóibín, Peadar.
Troy, Robert.

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Regina Doherty and Tony McLoughlin; Níl, Deputies Mattie McGrath and Michael Harty.

Question declared carried.

Sitting suspended at 2 p.m. and resumed at 2.40 p.m.

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht - Thursday, 30 Mar 2017