The former chairman of the board set up to plan the new children's hospital has today said his resignation was due to "significant and fundamental differences" surrounding issues that posed a "a serious risk" to the delivery of the project.
It was believed Philip Lynch resigned last week from the board planning the National Paediatric Hospital over concerns about a gap in funding for the project, as well as fresh anxieties about the controversial decision to locate the hospital on the campus of Dublin’s Mater hospital,
In a statement published today, Mr Lynch said that following speculation about his resignation, he felt it was incumbent on him to make public his reasons.
"My decision to resign was my own. In my letter of resignation, I stated that there were fundamental differences between the Minister and myself on the need for open and informed discussion at board level at all times on a range of substantive issues relating to the NPHDB."
Mr Lynch said that among the those issues were the "substantial funding gap, the development of the AMNCH at Tallaght, clarity or absence of governance proposals for the new hospital, effectiveness of stakeholder communications, and planning and design challenges for the Mater site".
"It is my opinion that if the above issues are not addressed, the successful delivery of the new hospital, wherever it is located, is at serious risk. . . . I informed the Minister that, on the basis of the significant and fundamental differences that existed , I believed the appropriate course of action for me was to resign my position as chairman."
My Lynch noted he ended his letter of resignation by wishing the Minister for Health every success "with a project that is of central importance to the care and well-being of children throughout Ireland in future decades”.
The former chairman said he did not intend to make any further comment on the subject.
The Irish Times reported today that property developer Noel Smyth said the former chairman of the board discussed with him the possibility of building the hospital on an alternative site in recent weeks.
Earlier this week, the Minister for Health, Mary Harney, refused to comment on the reasons behind the resignation.
However, in a statement issued tonight, the Minister said she had asked Mr Lynch to resign and had made it clear to him that it was not in the remit of the development board to revisit the Government decision taken on the location of the new hospital.
"The funding mechanism for the new hospital set out at the commencement of the project remains in place," she said.
"The development of the National Paediatric Hospital at the Mater campus remains a priority for the Government and it is important now that we all focus on making it happen rather than attempting to revisit the decisions of the past," the Minister added.
Responding to Mr Lynch's statement this evening, Fine Gael Health spokesman Dr James Reilly said his comments about the funding gap in the children's hospital project were "very serious."
"We have a 440 bed project which is costing €650 million when the standard cost is €1 million a bed. The numbers never seemed to add up but Philip Lynch’s statement has cast grave doubt on their credibility. It also confirms the issues around the difficulties of planning at such a limited site," said Dr Reilly.
Businessman John Gallagher has been appointed as the new chairman of the national paediatric hospital development board by Ms Harney. The new hospital is due to be built by late 2014.