The construction of the new national children's hospital is a key part of the programme for Government. Last week a group of parents of the sickest children in the country travelled to Dublin to meet the Taoiseach and hand in a petition signed by 60,000 people, but nobody from the Government, not even an official, met them. They had to hand it to the porter at the front gate. They came from every county, including Northern Ireland, to oppose the construction of the national children's hospital on the site chose. Will somebody examine the madness of the decision that construction go ahead on the site which will be inaccessible? There will not even be a helicopter pad. It is utter madness.

The Minister for Health has put the facts about the site chosen for the new national children's hospital firmly in the public arena. It is a suitable site and the building and development of the hospital will go ahead on it. It will be a state-of-the-art national children's hospital which is long overdue and badly needed. It will provide an excellent service for the parents described by the Deputy because it will have state-of-the-art facilities for the children of the country. The site has been examined and recommended and the decision taken to go ahead. It has received planning permission. I hope that in the next couple of years we will finally have a state-of-the-art natinonal children's hospital.