A MAJORITY of parents surveyed are opposed to the location of the proposed new National Children’s Hospital on the St James’s campus site.
According to MummyPages.ie, Ireland’s biggest community of mothers, 92 per cent of parents are opposed to the proposed new location.
Another 87 per cent of parents were also upset that they had to pay €50 in a planning application objection to make their voices heard by the October 2 deadline.
And 95 per cent of parents agreed that one of the most important factors to be considered in approving the planning application for the new National Children’s Hospital was accessibility. Speaking on behalf of the MummyPages community, Laura Haugh, Mum-in-Residence with the website, said: “Our mums are very upset that the Government has not only wasted €40 million on the badly thought out Mater site for the new National Children’s Hospital, but that they are about to make an even bigger mistake now with the new proposed site at St James’s.
“Thankfully, not all of our mums have had to face the arduous journey to hospital when a child is seriously ill. Nor have they all had to endure long days, weeks or even months of medical treatment to help a sick child.
However, all of our mums acknowledge the invaluable advice from their peers both offline and in our online community who have experienced parenting challenges and issues before them as life-saving.
“Access, parking, safety and development potential are the most important factors in considering the location of our new National Children’s Hospital, and if the Government and planning authorities won’t listen to these objections, then maybe they’ll listen when it hits their pocket and they realise that the greenfield site proposed in Blanchardstown will actually be cheaper and quicker to construct.”