THE MATER Hospital in Dublin remains the Government’s preferred site for a new national children’s hospital in spite of An Bord Pleanála’s decision to refuse planning permission for the €650 million facility.
The fallout from the planning board’s decision to turn down the development on grounds including its height and scale is to be considered by the Cabinet tomorrow.
Ministers are expected to discuss the terms of reference and membership of the new group to be chaired by former Health Service Executive chairman Frank Dolphin.
This will look at the implications of the planning decision and provide options for Minister for Health James Reilly. How broad or narrow these are could prove crucial for the final outcome of the process.
The Cabinet will also consider the establishment of a second group to focus on whether the planning process can be adapted to allow for consultation with An Bord Pleanála while projects are developed so that they do not fall at the final hurdle.
However, it emerged yesterday that the board had flagged its concerns about the “constrained nature” of the Mater site as a location for the new children’s hospital as early as November 2010 at a meeting with Department of Health officials, long before the planning application was lodged.
In a further development yesterday, the former chairman of the hospital project, Philip Lynch, said the Government should drop the plan to build it on the Mater site.
“The country, the Government can’t afford it. It’s as simple as this. Even in the boom we couldn’t get on with it... and now the troika will probably decide whether we should build it or not,” he said.
Mr Lynch resigned as chairman of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board in 2010 after questioning the Mater site’s suitability for the project.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio yesterday he also insisted that co-locating the children’s facility with a major adult hospital, as favoured by the Government, was not a viable option.
“Where do you co-locate today? Every hospital we have is ancient, okay? Where would you co-locate it and have you the land and the building to co-locate? You haven’t. It’s as simple as this,” he said.
There were strong indications last night, however, that the Government’s preferred location for the facility remains the Mater hospital.
Options that have been suggested over recent days include withdrawing plans for a new maternity hospital on the Mater site, intended to replace the Rotunda hospital, and/or for education and training facilities.
This would allow the height of the national children’s hospital to be scaled back.
Some sources have suggested the education and training facilities could be moved elsewhere, possibly to another site in the environs of the Mater campus, while the capacity of the proposed maternity hospital could be reduced and capacity increased in other maternity hospitals in Dublin.
Labour Minister of State and local TD Joe Costello last night called on the Government to proceed with a smaller project on the Mater site.
Building on the site was the only way an urgently needed children’s hospital could be delivered in time for the centenary celebration of the 1916 Rising. “That deadline is fast approaching. The Government’s objective of building the hospital in time for the 2016 anniversary can’t be reached by any other means.”
Mr Costello said he had always been concerned about the height of the project, but suggested a smaller building on the site was the best way forward. One possibility was to leave maternity services in the nearby Rotunda hospital rather than moving them to the Mater, he suggested.
He said building on a greenfield site elsewhere in Dublin would incur considerable planning delays.
Critics of the Mater site have again urged the Government to consider alternative locations.
The New Children’s Hospital Alliance, one of the main groups opposed to the Mater as the national children’s hospital site, said An Bord Pleanála’s decision had ended the discussion on this location. Alternative sites now had to be considered.
Mr Lynch said yesterday one of the options that should be considered by the review body was to expand Our Lady’s Hospital in Crumlin by providing an extra 300 beds there.
The board of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board will also meet tomorrow to consider the decision by An Bord Pleanála.