Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

It is no offence to the Minister of State but it is scandalous that we are here to discuss health and the Minister for Health was present for the statements of a number of the other Opposition groups and backbenchers but then will not be there for a whole load of groups. I have a question that I will pose to the Minister of State and she might not know the answer because she is not the Minister for Health but the Government has chosen to put her in this position so I will ask her the question and leave her time to answer it.

Will the Tallaght Hospital paediatric emergency department be fully reopened as has been promised? Last week, staff at Tallaght Hospital were shocked to find out that the children's emergency department was being downgraded to an urgent care centre and all acute paediatric services were stopped. The nurses union has gone on record to say that this decision is simply unsafe. Back in March, when the services were temporarily closed, we were promised that they would reopen. It was even announced last week that they would reopen but then at the last minute, members of staff were told it would not be reopening at all and instead the service would be downgraded. This decision will pile extra pressure on Crumlin hospital and Temple Street Hospital, which are already struggling to cope. It is bad news for families in Tallaght and for children across Dublin. Will the Minister of State and the Department intervene to reverse this decision to ensure the hospital's children's services are fully restored as was promised?

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