Delay in national children's hospital report
Health Minister Dr James Reilly has today agreed to an extension of the deadline for the receipt of the report of the Review Group on the National Paediatric Hospital.
The move follows a request from the Chairman of the group, Dr Frank Dolphin, seeking a 14-day extension.
The group, which was established by the Government to review the decision of An Bord Pleanála to refuse permission for the hospital on the Mater Hospital site, had been due to report next week.
Since the An Bord Pleanála decision a raft of possible new sites have emerged and made representations to the Review Group.
Among them is a proposal to build the Hospital on an eight-acre greenfield site at the Phoenix Park Racecourse.
However a bid to locate the Hospital at the Mater site has also been re-launched recently.
Minister Reilly said the new representations will delay the publication of the report.
"I'm confident the work will be done expeditiously," he added.
