National paediatric hospital board Bill
Deputy Ó Snodaigh asks when legislation establishing the national paediatric hospital development board will be published, saying delays are affecting staffing plans. The Tánaiste suggests the Deputy may be referring to the children's health Bill, due before the House rises for summer.
I will ask a question I have been asking since January 2013. I refer to legislation the Government considered urgent at the time. When will the Bill to establish the national paediatric hospital development board be published? According to information I have received, the delay in publishing and passing the Bill is causing major problems with planning for the recruitment of staff to commission the new hospital to be located on the grounds of St. James's Hospital and its two satellite facilities in Tallaght and Blanchardstown. If the legislation is not published and enacted before January next, there will be problems. The last time I asked this question, the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, stated the Bill was imminent. I am still waiting on this legislation which, as I said, I first asked about in January 2013.