Fears for funding of new National Children's Hospital
There are fresh question marks surrounding the National Children's Hospital after the Government declared the project had to fight it out for funding.
That is despite the Cabinet approving the Mater site in Dublin City Centre for the long promised hospital.
Yesterday the Cabinet accepted an expert's report which stated the Dublin location at the Mater hospital was the best one for the new Children's Hospital.
But the report also suggest scaling back the size of the facility so it will not be the original planned height which is likely to mean a smaller hospital.
The previous health minister had assured that €450m in funding was ringfenced for the facility.
But a spokesman for the new Government said this, like all other capital investments, would only go ahead if deemed value for money in the spending review.
And a spokesman for the Health Minister, when asked if James Reilly fully backed the hospital, said the Minister was fully behind the notion of the children's hospital.
Minister Reilly will announce the position with the facility at a press conference this afternoon.
