Legal action could derail €1bn children’s hospital
The Government has been put on notice of possible legal action to stop the development of the new €1bn children’s hospital at the St James’ hospital campus in Dublin, .
Fin Breatnach, a spokesperson for Connolly for Kids, confirmed that the group was taking legal advice “to see if we can challenge the decision vis-a-vis a judicial review”.
Dr Breatnach said they had sent a letter of intent to both the Government and the National Children’s Hospital Development Board “indicating that we are looking into the possibility of a judicial review”.
He said they had 12 weeks — from the time the Government made its decision this week to fund the new hospital — to submit a case for a decision on whether a judicial review could proceed.
“If the High Court decides our grounds are reasonable, then we will look at crowdfunding the action,” he said.
Dr Breatnach, a retired paediatric oncologist, has long opposed the move to St James’. Connolly for Kids described this week’s Government decision as “shameful” — principally because of insufficient space on the campus and poor access.
Yesterday Jonathan Irwin, founder of the Jack & Jill Foundation, said they would not be party to the legal action because they needed the money to maintain their respite and support services to families of sick children.
Mr Irwin said it was outrageous that the Government has already spent more than €100m on the new children’s hospital “and not a brick in the ground”.
Around €40m was written off when the original site at the Mater fell through in 2012 due to refused permission.
Another €60m plus had been spent on the St James’s site to the end of 2015.
