Put children first

Hanging over the whole sorry debate about the new children’s hospital is the dark cloud of political fixing, central to governance in this country, writes Michael Clifford

CHILDREN First is the title of the set of guidelines for best practice child protection by the state and its agencies. The guidelines were published in 1999. Despite its title, the welfare of children has not been to the fore since. The guidelines have yet to be placed on a statutory footing.

Children First is the catch-cry of everybody who professes to have an interest in building a national children’s hospital. Yet any perusal of the commentary, debate and lobbying about the project suggests that the welfare of children is well down in the pecking order.

For the one thing that screams out from all the noise generated is that the welfare of children is considered only in the context of vested interests and the political culture of the state.

Some vested interests want the project to go ahead on the chosen site. Other vested interests are demanding that it be stopped, reviewed, and ultimately relocated to a site of their choosing. And hanging over the whole affair is the dark cloud of political fixing, a central component to governance in this country. Sitting atop that cloud is the man who brought the art of fixing to new heights over the last few decades.

The site for the hospital was chosen in 2006 following a study by McKinsey Consultants, an international outfit highly regarded in the lucrative business of consultancy.

The primary reason for choosing the Mater was the location on the site of an existing adult hospital. From a planning point of view, it might also be the case that siting large infrastructure in the centre of a city is the best way to go. Equally, it could also be argued that the specific traffic issue around the North Circular Road has a major negative impact in planning terms.

One way or the other, the site was chosen. Alternatives like Our Lady’s Hospital in Crumlin, and a greenfield site on the M50 were also considered, but ultimately rejected.

There was some surprise at the decision. Those advocating the other sites cried foul. In a country where proper procedures are routinely subservient to a word in the right ear, two and two were added up to give five. The Mater is in what was Bertie Ahern’s constituency. Ahern worked in the hospital before entering politics. Those who were disappointed put the decision down to the same old story. The greater good, even when it concerned children’s health, was being relegated below political expediency.

This thesis among the disappointed will be familiar to anybody who has spent time in and around the courts in this country. All too often, litigants on the losing side are convinced the judge has some ulterior motive for deciding against them. When people are convinced of the validity of their case, it’s the only answer that makes sense.

Ahern’s character added ballast to the belief that he had stuck his oar in. Wasn’t he the great fixer, the most cunning, the most devious? Wasn’t he the ultimate constituency politician? What was conveniently ignored is that any such attempt on his part would have required assistance from Health Minister Mary Harney and the chief executive of the HSE, Brendan Drumm. You don’t have to admire either person to acknowledge that there is no way they would be party to placing Ahern’s constituency imperatives ahead of the health of the nation’s children. Harney, it is worth recalling, was the one who put the kibosh in Ahern’s ultimate pet project, the Bertie Bowl.

In any event, the project to build the hospital went ahead, with the naysayers continuing to snipe from the sidelines. Then last October, the chairman of the project, Philip Lynch, resigned. He had come to the conclusion that the wrong site had been chosen. His successor, another businessman, John Gallagher, conducted his own review. He satisfied himself that the Mater was the best site.

On the eve of the general election, Fine Gael reiterated its commitment to a review. “If in government, Fine Gael will review the entire proposal as a matter of urgency,” a statement said. Votes, rather than children’s health, was quite obviously the guiding principle in that statement.

Last month, while he was engaged in a high profile legal action, Lynch stated explicitly that he believed there had been political interference at the highest level. “It was a political decision, a northside job, I’ve no doubt in the world about it.”

He said that Ahern had promised the Sisters of Mercy — the order which runs the Mater — that “they would get their hospital”. He didn’t offer any evidence to that effect. His declaration gave impetus to those opposed to the Mater site.

Last week, Gallagher resigned. He has quite obviously had enough. The Health Minister James Reilly appears to be dithering on whether to conduct a full review. Now that he is in power, he is examining the issue from a different perspective.

If there is to be a review, who will conduct it? If the original decision was in any way tainted, what evidence is there that a new review would be entirely impartial? The project has been under way for more than three years. Nearly €200 million has been spent so far. Is it possible that the original decision was so monumentally wrong that it would now be in the interests of children to stop everything and begin on another site? Infrastructural delays have been a bugbear of this society for decades. A political culture which lacks transparency, and panders to vested interests, ensures that things move at a snail’s pace, relegating the primacy of the greater good.

Everybody involved in the campaign believes they are putting children first, but it’s high time everybody involved took a step back and gave some consideration to their own motives.

If there is an overwhelming case for a review, then it should be conducted with the utmost speed. Otherwise, it is incumbent on all parties to get behind the project. Maybe then we can finally get to a station where Children First is more than just an empty phrase.