Local politicians back call for Children's Hospital to be based in Mullingar

Athlone councillor Gabrielle McFadden has called for the proposed National Children's Hospital to be moved from the Mater site in Dublin to a location in Mullingar. At last week's meeting of Westmeath County Council's Athlone Area committee, Cllr McFadden proposed that the local authority "develop a comprehensive proposal for the Minister for Health Dr James Reilly" to promote Mullingar as a location for the National Children's Hospital. During a discussion on the motion Cllr McFadden said her sister, Deputy Nicky McFadden, had discussed this idea with the Health Minister. "He didn't knock it completely but he said his advisory group were keen on keeping the hospital in the greater Dublin area," she stated. She was aware that some colleagues on the council thought her motion was "a waste of time" but she didn't agree with that view and she urged all members to support the proposal. "Unfortunately (the hospital) can't be in Athlone but as far as I'm concerned Mullingar's road network would make it the ideal location," she said. She argued that the proposal would work because Mullingar had "a teaching hospital, it's on a rail line, it has a helicopter pad and there's a midlands airfield in Abbeyshrule." She said the facility shouldn't automatically be situated in Dublin because, although there were one million people living in the capital, there were three million people living in other parts of the country. Cllr Tom Allen supported the motion, saying "as someone who travels north, south, east and west, (Mullingar) couldn't be more central." He felt it would be more accessible than the Mater site "because if you're travelling from Belmullet to Dublin this is half way there." Cllr McFadden's Fine Gael colleague, Cllr Mark Cooney, said he was unsure what she meant by "a detailed proposal". He said a letter to the Health Minister, pointing out that land was available adjacent to Mullingar Hospital, should be sufficient. Cllr McFadden said she had requested "a comprehensive proposal" because she didn't want this to be "just a letter, like all the other letters" that the council sends. She said the site she had in mind was behind the existing hospital in Mullingar and she hoped the council executive would talk to her about this site. Cllr Frankie Keena said he didn't know why Cllr McFadden felt she would not receive support for her motion as he felt it was "a very worthwhile idea". He said some medical input and expertise might need to be sought before developing the proposal further. Cllr Joe Whelan said he supported the proposal "as an aspiration" but he believed there had been too much medical input in the original proposal for the Mater site and this was partly the reason why it had run into difficulty. He said it was "extraordinary" the height of the proposed Mater building had not been flagged as an issue before it went to An Bord Pleanala, which refused the planning application because of the building's height. Cllr Whelan said there was "only a very short timeframe" for the Mullingar proposal to be put forward, "but by all means let us make a pitch." Cllr Kevin 'Boxer' Moran said the motion "reads well and I'd love it to happen," but he questioned the relevance of bringing it before the council meeting "when we have four TDs in the constituency and not one of them stood up in the Dail and asked for this." He said that, from listening to the regional newspaper round-up on RTE radio, he was aware a number of other councils had come up with similar proposals. He also said moving the National Children's Hospital to a new greenfield site at this point would mean a further delay to the building of the hospital and the provision of medical services which were badly needed. Cllr McFadden replied to 'Boxer' by saying that: "Deputy McFadden did raise it, perhaps not in the Dail, but with Dr Reilly himself. He didn't knock it completely but he said his advisory group were keen on keeping it in the greater Dublin area. "I still feel we should go ahead with (the proposal) because most of (Dr Reilly's) advisors would probably be Dublin-based anyway," she said. It was agreed that a proposal for the Minister would be finalised at a meeting of the council's corporate policy group, which was scheduled to meet yesterday (Tuesday).