Campus's future: There is no plan to transfer ownership of the site on which Mountjoy prison in Dublin stands to the nearby Mater Hospital, the Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has confirmed.
The news could have a significant bearing on whether the Mater Hospital campus is chosen as the location for the construction of the State's new children's hospital.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) announced on Friday that the new hospital, into which the three existing children's hospitals in Dublin are to be amalgamated, is to be built on a site adjacent to a major teaching hospital in Dublin and on a site which leaves room for the facilities to expand.
Plans were already in place to move Temple Street Children's Hospital to the Mater campus but whether this site is ultimately chosen for the new children's hospital could depend on whether it is given part of the Mountjoy site when the prison moves to Thornton Hall in north county Dublin.
Several teaching hospitals other than the Mater are also expected to bid for the new children's hospital including Tallaght Hospital, where the National Children's Hospital is located, as well as St James's Hospital.
A decision on where to site the hospital will be made within two months by a taskforce chaired by John O'Brien, director of the HSE's national hospitals. He is on secondment from his post as chief executive of St James's.
Mr McDowell was asked by way of parliamentary question about the Mountjoy site and whether part of it would be given to the Mater, by the Dublin north central Labour TD Joe Costello.
Mr McDowell said there was no plan to transfer part of the Mountjoy prison site to the Mater Hospital. He has asked the Office of Public Works, which will also have a representative on Mr O'Brien's taskforce, to prepare a development plan for the site.
Mr Costello said he believed part of the site should go to the Mater. It should not be simply sold to the highest bidder, he said.