Mum says the costs of hospital delays include children’s dignity and rights

Amanda O'Rourke's son Hugh, now 18, was born the year a plan to build a National Children's Hospital in Dublin was first announced. Picture: Ciarán O'Rourke

In 2006, a mother attending Temple St Hospital with her baby, newly diagnosed with a rare condition, first heard of plans to build a new National Children’s Hospital.

That baby boy is now 18 years old and his mother, Amanda O’Rourke, said: “People talk about cost but there is cost to the children’s safety as well; their dignity and their human rights.”