I refer to the National Children's Hospital. Responsibility for policy and health matters is retained by the Minister and operational responsibility is with the HSE. Since it came to existence the HSE is taking policy decisions and disputing policy decisions advocated by the Tánaiste, correctly so in some cases.

Concerns exist about the handling of the national children's hospital. A team of international experts, McKinsey and Company, submitted a report before Christmas. They were not required to report, or were explicitly precluded from reporting, on siting. A presentation was made on 31 January and some days later it emerged a joint working group of the Department of Health and Children and the HSE was established to deal with the siting issue. On 17 February a letter was issued inviting bids for the national children's hospital. The deadline for prospective tenders was 2 March. Although there are many public projects I would like to see them make progress at this rate, I know of no other that has progressed at this speed. A new hospital is a complex project, even if in this case it is a co-located one, and may cost €500 million. Professor Drumm is a paediatrician and may be the driving force behind this progress.

When does the Tánaiste expect to receive the report of this working group and when will a decision be made? Will that decision be made by the Tánaiste, the Government or Professor Drumm? Is she aware of the implications presented by a single build national children's hospital for existing hospitals that care for sick children? Many professionals believe the decision has already been made and we are going through a process to give the appearance of consultation on an issue of significant national interest.

Although Professor Drumm is a paediatrician he is not involved in making decisions on this matter. Any suspicions to the contrary are incorrect. Four hospitals in Dublin deal with tertiary children's facilities. We planned to build a new hospital for Temple Street Hospital, in conjunction with the new Mater development, and redevelop Crumlin Hospital. It was appropriate to have someone examine the best interests of sick children. McKinsey and Company were asked to do so, considered 25 places in the world and decided that for a population of 4.2 million people we needed one facility with 300 beds instead of the 650 beds planned for Crumlin and Temple Street at a cost of €750 million.

With a small population we cannot have specialists dealing exclusively with children and many will deal with transplants and surgery in adults. For this reason, and to aid research, a new children's hospital should be co-located with an adult hospital. Physicians could work on adults and children, research could be combined and synergy would result. After the report was received hospitals were briefed on the report and everyone, including Tallaght Hospital, Beaumont Hospital, Crumlin Hospital and Temple Street Hospital, welcomed the report.

Because of the rebuilding of the Mater, I did not wish a long period to pass before we could bring certainty to the decision and I decided a two month period should be allowed for a group comprising the HSE——

The report was issued on 29 December, a strange time to issue a report.

I received the report on 31 January and we allowed two months, February and March, for a group comprising representatives of the HSE, the Department and the OPW to receive proposals and make a recommendation to me on the most appropriate collocation. Deputy Rabbitte and I have heard suspicions but I assure him this will be a fair, competitive process.

My only concern is for sick children and doing the right thing for them. A total of 40% of the children will come from outside the Dublin area and therefore transport linkages and so on are also important.

I hope to receive the report at the beginning of April and I will make it public so that everybody can see the basis for the recommendation. I do not know what recommendation will be made. I assure the Deputy that it is not a foregone conclusion, notwithstanding the rumours within the medical profession in this city.

I thank the Tánaiste for her assurances and I take them at face value. Nobody I know of has criticised the McKinsey report and this is not the issue because the merits of the report are accepted. It may have been a slip of the tongue on the part of the Tánaiste but I think she took the report before Christmas. The presentation to which she referred was held on 31 January 2006.

Yes, the Deputy is correct.

The re-siting of Temple Street hospital has been worked on for the past five years. It has taken people a little by surprise that a presentation was made on the contents of the McKinsey report on 31 January 2006. A formal letter inviting bids was received on 17 February and a deadline of 2 March was imposed for those tenders. This seems to be a highly unusual way to progress such a large project and there is an inevitable connection with the suspicions to which the Tánaiste referred.

Many people are a little bemused at the policy priority being given to this, welcome though it may be. The accident and emergency figures published this morning are at the lowest point to date. Even allowing for the dispute between the INO and the HSE, the accident and emergency situation is the worst crisis in the health services. Of the 200,000 medical cards which the Tánaiste promised in November 2004, only 10,000 have yet been awarded, 9,984 being the actual number. One would have thought these were the kinds of issues that policy-wise might be driven to the top of the agenda, but instead it is this issue which has emerged over a lightning period. Very little time has been given for submissions. When will the decision be made and who will make it?

There are many priorities but the cause of sick children is a major priority. One need only visit Temple Street or Crumlin hospitals. Parents have told me that they do not care where the hospital is located, they just want a new hospital. Virtually every paediatrician I have spoken to has welcomed the fact that services will be brought together to provide a state-of-the-art facility for sick children. The reason it is an urgent priority is that new hospitals were to be built for Temple Street and Crumlin but the Mater Hospital badly needs redevelopment. If Temple Street is not to be co-located with the Mater in a single building I do not want the Mater project delayed for months. The usual criticism of the Government is that it does not make decisions quickly. Co-location can only be achieved in a few places if that is the decision. If this is to happen, a new hospital will need to be designed and planned. The Government is currently considering a co-location with an adult hospital which is the best option.

I will make the decision. I will not give anyone the opportunity to say the Government is afraid to make difficult decisions such as this. I will consider the advice of the group which I have established, otherwise there would have been no point in putting such a group in place. It is composed equally between the Department of Health and Children, the HSE and the OPW.

With regard to accident and emergency units, eleven hospitals have wards closed because of the winter vomiting bug and this is adding to the pressure. The provision of accident and emergency treatment is a priority but the cause of sick children is no less a priority. The facilities for the tertiary-level care of children with serious cancers, heart disease and many other serious illnesses leave a lot to be desired.