Mater site was picked ‘on both financial and clinical grounds’

THE decision to choose the Mater site in city centre of Dublin was made on both financial and clinical grounds, the Government said yesterday.

In its clinical analysis, the independent review team featured pro bono input from children’s hospital chief executives from around the world: Dr James Mandell, Children’s Hospital Boston, Dr James Shmerling of the Children’s Hospital in Colorado, Prof Peter Steer of Children’s Health Services, Queensland, and Dr Jane Collins of Great Ormond St in London.

In the words of Health Minister Dr James Reilly yesterday, these experts concluded that the Mater site offered a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to have a co-located adult and children’s hospital set-up, with the possibility of tri-location, were a maternity hospital to be added to the same campus.