The National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) is to submit a planning application for the construction of a new €200 million, 44,000 square metre hospital facility at its site in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
If approved, the new facility, which will be funded by the Health Service Executive (HSE), will greatly increase the National Rehabilitation Hospital's services by almost doubling its capacity from 119 beds to 235 beds.
The redevelopment is expected to take four years to complete from the time of commencement.
The NRH has been experiencing severe pressure on its services and there is currently a long waiting list for admission.
Commenting on the hospital's development plans this afternoon, Dr Aine Carroll, consultant in rehabilitation medicine and chair of the NRH's medical board said that the redevelopment would lead to additional jobs.
"The new National Rehabilitation Hospital will be a centre of enablement. It will be the largest rehabilitation facility in Europe providing a purpose built facility with a full range of neurological and prosthetic rehabilitation services with the aim of enabling individuals with physical and/or cognitive impairments to lead as independent lives as possible
The NRH, which was founded in 1961, is the country's only rehabilitation hospital for brain injuries. It also looks after people recovering from stroke and spinal injuries
