Reilly makes Children's Hospital vow

The Government has insisted it remains 100% committed to the long-awaited national children’s hospital as it ordered experts to explain why planners rejected the Mater site.

The Government has insisted it remains 100% committed to the long-awaited national children’s hospital as it ordered experts to explain why planners rejected the Mater site.

The €650m design must be scaled back or relocated after Health Minister Dr James Reilly revealed the plan failed despite close contact between architects and planning authorities.

An Bord Pleanala refused permission for the controversial north Dublin site, warning the 16-storey glass building was not sustainable and would overwhelm the Georgian district.

Dr Reilly assured parents of sick children that the Government will build the hospital despite the setback.

“We shall now sit down, examine very closely the Bord decision and make a determination very rapidly with great urgency and immediacy,” he said.

Former Health Service Executive chairman Dr Frank Dolphin will spearhead the review and make recommendations on how plans for the 400-bed Children’s Hospital of Ireland can progress.

An Bord Pleanala inspectors – who did not consider clinical aspects – warned that the 74m-high building over 100,000 square feet was too large and out of place in the city skyline.

Dr Reilly said he would discuss the decision with O’Connell Mahon architects/NBBJ who designed the structure and consulted planners.

It has been estimated that €33m has been spent to date. Funding of €200m had been earmarked from the sale of a new National Lottery licence with the winning bidder tied to an upfront payment.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the hospital is an absolute priority and that recommendations on the way forward will be ready in weeks.

“We’ll move on defending and we’ll review the implications,” Mr Kenny said.

The National Children’s Hospital development board, said to have been disappointed by the refusal, is scheduled to meet next Tuesday to plan the next step.

“There’s a lot of complexity to the overall proposal so equally the decision needs to be looked at closely,” a spokesman said.

The decision to plan and develop a dedicated children’s hospital was taken in 2006 and the board convened the following year.

It is believed that among the options up for consideration is a redrafting of the plan based on the issues of height and size raised by planning inspectors.

But that would not guarantee acceptance by An Bord Pleanala even though it is classed Strategic Infrastructure.

Alternative locations are also now back on the table including co-location at Tallaght Hospital, co-location at James Connolly in Blanchardstown, a new standalone paediatric centre at Newlands Cross and redeveloping St James’ and Crumlin in Dublin.

Dr Reilly said he could not rule out settling for a greenfield location, which a team of private developers and some opponents of Eccles Street have championed all along.

Ray Martin, spokesman for the New Children’s Hospital Alliance, which opposed the Mater site, said an alternative would ensure easier access for parents.

“Some 65% of patients are from outside the Dublin area, from places as far away as Donegal and Belfast. Travelling into a busy city was just a very bad idea,” said Mr Martin.

“Building it on the outskirts would have meant a hospital for all the country.”

Mr Martin also claimed that the Mater was selected on the back of political cronyism and not the needs of the public.

“This had nothing to do with sick children and their families. This was about what suited the Government,” he said.

“Thank God we have a system in place that can say ’No, this is the wrong thing to do’.”

An international expert group unanimously backed the Mater as the best for the facility, which will merge the existing children’s hospitals at Temple Street, Crumlin and Tallaght. Its main reason was co-location.

Dr Reilly denied suggestions of political interference despite critics claiming the influence of former taoiseach Bertie Ahern had played a part.

“There was no political interference or engagement or involvement with the location,” said Dr Reilly.

“I wanted a cogent, objective assessment of that and we got that from four leading people in the world – three of them paediatricians, all four involved in leading hospitals all around the world.

“They came to the conclusion that this was the best place.”

The hospital had been due to admit the first patients by the end of 2016, a year behind the original target.

An Bord Pleanala refused planning on the following grounds:

:: The bulk and height of the 100,000 square metres building – 164 metres long and 74 metres high – was too large for the site.

:: It described the 16-storey glass structure as dominant and visually incongruous with a negative impact on the city skyline.

:: A bad fit for the historic nature of the district and would detract from the character of protected structures and streetscapes.

:: It would hamper favoured vistas of O’Connell Street and North Great George’s Street.

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