Parents say delay is last thing needed in children’s hospital saga

A GROUP representing parents of sick children has said the last thing they want is the delay of the building of a new children’s hospital so close to planning.

Louis Roden, chair of the New Crumlin Hospital Group, said they had been talking about the hospital for 10 years and that “further delay is completely unacceptable.”

The statement from the group came yesterday after Health Minister James Reilly re-iterated his commitment to review the project.

Meanwhile, property developer Noel Smyth believes he could begin construction of the hospital within nine months of engaging with planners if he gets the go-ahead from Government to do so.

Mr Smyth, whose four-year-old offer to build the hospital at cost price still stands, said his project team had already had discussions with South Dublin County Council in relation to building the hospital at a greenfield site near Newlands Cross, off the M50.

Mr Smyth said in addition to a 25-acre site off the Naas Road, they were looking at acquiring an adjacent site from the Irish Rugby Football Union to create a 100-acre international children’s hospital campus, comprising a children’s hospital, a maternity hospital, and eventually a hotel to accommodate parents of sick children.

He said the European Investment Bank, which has a specific interest in hospital projects, was prepared to put up 50% of the funding, at very competitive rates, if his plan receives government approval. “They normally give loans over 30 years and their interest rates are as low as half of one percent,” Mr Smyth said.

A further €200 million could be saved by not building at the Mater, the site selected by a Health Service Executive and Department of Health taskforce as the best location for the proposed hospital, he said.

Earlier this week, Mr Reilly confirmed to the Irish Examiner the Government intended the proposed hospital “be fully reviewed with all the facts on the table.”

Specifically, Mr Reilly said if it was €200m cheaper to build the €650m 440-bed hospital elsewhere other than the Mater, that saving could not be ignored.

Mr Smyth said he was hopeful of a call from the new minister once he has read into his brief. Mr Smyth’s offer to build a children’s hospital is not confined to Newlands Cross.

If someone has a “better location”, his offer also stands. It does not, however, extend to the Mater site on the basis that experts he has spoken to do not support it as the best location for sick children.

Mr Smyth said they were also prepared to work with the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board — set up by the previous government to drive the project — if his offer is accepted. However yesterday chair of the board, John Gallagher, issued a statement warning that any further delay in the project would impact on final costs. Mr Gallagher said he had carried out his own review of the project and it confirmed the Mater as the most suitable site.

Separately, claims by former development board chair Philip Lynch that selection of the Mater site was politically motivated were rejected by former health minister Mary Harney and by Sr Helena O’Donoghue, the former provincial leader of the sisters of Mercy at the Mater.

However, Mr Lynch said he stood over his remarks.

Site selection

- Twenty-two sites proposed by hospitals and private organisations were initially identified. They included the six major Dublin hospitals Beaumont, the Mater, St James’s, St Vincent’s, Tallaght, and Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown.

- 17 sites were examined by independent consultants McKinsey and Co who did not select a site but recommended a new children’s hospital be “ideally” co-located with an adult teaching hospital.

- A task force comprised of Health Service Executive and Department of Health officials ultimately selected the Mater campus. Greenfield sites, such as Newlands Cross, offered by private developer Noel Smyth, were ruled out on the basis they did not meet the criteria of co-location with an adult teaching hospital.