Tánaiste insists new children's hospital will be built
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has vowed that a new National Children's Hospital will be built despite An Bord Pleanála's rejection of planning permission for the Mater site in Dublin.
Meanwhile Health Minister James Reilly has said that despite the board's decision announced today, the Mater site remains an option for the construction of the facility.
The board is concerned about the height, scale and mass of the proposed site - and its impact on the city skyline.
Deputy Gilmore today told the Dáil that all options will now have to be considered.
"It appears that the principal reasons for refusing the permission have to do with the height and scale of the proposed development," he said.
"Obviously that will have to be looked at (and we will) have to see if some changes can be made that can satisfy An Bord Pleanála in a subsequent application.
"The issue of an alternative site may have to be looked at.
"We will have to reflect on what options are open to us."
However Heath Minister James Reilly said the Mater Hospital site is still being considered for the proposed National Children's Hospital.
Minister Reilly said the decision by An Bord Pleanála puts pressure on the previous 2016 deadline for completion of the project and he is establishing a review body to look at the decision.
He insisted the Mater site is not yet off the table, and his Department would decided on their next move once they had studied the board's decision in detail.
"I am very determined, and the Government is very determined, and the Taoiseach and Tánaiste are very determined… that this hospital be built during the (tenure) of this Government."
Meanwhile Fianna Fáil deputy leader Éamon Ó Cuív has called for emergency legislation to declare the project as a piece of critical infrastructure.
This would mean any revised or new planning application would not have to go through a lengthy process starting at the local authority.
