30-month delay if Mater not chosen

A delay of two-and-a-half years can be expected should an alternative site to the Mater be chosen for the children’s hospital, it has been claimed.

In a previously unpublished memo, the Government-appointed National Paediatric Development Board said the Government cannot disregard the €70m already spent on the Mater site and that it risks a minimum delay of two-and-a-half years in opening the facility if another site gets the green light.

The board said an alternative site would need to yield over €120m-€140m of real savings to counter the value of the Mater site and be equally economically advantageous to the State. A delay of five years would lose between €240m and €280m.