Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 8 September 2025
2187. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health the discussions that have taken place regarding the continuing future use of Crumlin Children's Hospital and Temple Street Children's Hospital after the opening of the National Children's Hospital in 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45014/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra2188. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health whether consideration has been given to using Crumlin Children's Hospital as an elective surgery hospital for Dublin after the opening of the National Children’s Hospital in 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45015/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 2187 and 2188 together.
The National Children’s Hospital Ireland (NCHI) is a much-needed investment in healthcare services for our children and young people which is now in the final stages of construction. Once NCHI is open and fully operational, the three existing children’s hospitals at Temple Street, Crumlin and the paediatric inpatient unit at Tallaght will close, as will the current Ronald McDonald House Charities’ (RMHC) family accommodation unit in Crumlin. The Emergency Care Unit at CHI at Tallaght and Urgent Care Centre at CHI at Connolly will continue to provide ambulatory care for children from the Greater Dublin Area.
The Children’s Health Act 2018 provided for creation of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI). Under that legislation, the board of Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin voluntarily transferred its assets and liabilities to the new entity, CHI. As such, the Crumlin hospital campus transferred to CHI upon its creation.
In May 2024, Government noted that Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown and the current site of CHI at Crumlin had been identified to be brought forward into the planning phase for two new ambulatory elective care centres in Dublin. These are in addition to those sites previously identified in Galway (Merlin Park University Hospital) and Cork (St Stephen's Hospital, Glanmire).
Since then, work has been ongoing to consider how an ambulatory elective care centre might be incorporated into the Crumlin campus, following the decant of CHI services to NCHI. This has included extensive engagement with CHI to identify the appropriate areas of the campus to transfer to the HSE to support delivery of an elective facility there and early engagement with the statutory planning authority to mitigate planning risks on the site.
Following CHI’s move to the NCHI and decommissioning of Temple Street, the building will revert to the ownership of the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital.
