Taoiseach defends Mater decision

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern yesterday rejected an assertion that the Government considered splitting the national children’s hospital over two campuses only a month before opting for a single site.

Mr Ahern was responding in the Dáil to yesterday’s report in the Irish Examiner which revealed that Mr Ahern discussed a letter proposing a two-campus solution with then Tánaiste Mary Harney in May 2006.

The letter from Professor Denis Gill of Temple Street Children’s Hospital proposed the children’s hospital be split between the Mater on Dublin’s northside and Tallaght on the southside, with the bulk of the beds to be located at the Mater.