Reilly expects report on new Children's Hospital options 'within weeks'

The Health Minister has said he hopes to have a report from an expert group on the options for a new National Children's Hospital within weeks.

Dr James Reilly's comments come after an Bord Pleanála rejected an application to build the new National Children's Hospital on the site of the Mater Hospital in Dublin.

The planning board said it refused the application because the hospital would have a negative impact on the Dublin city skyline.

Minister Reilly said he did not want to pre-empt what advice the expert group would give him, but he did not rule out the possibility that a smaller hospital could be built, with fewer beds.

He said the Mater site was still on the table, but that he would also examine other possibilities, including other co-location sites as well as greenfield ones.

Spokesperson for the Children's Hospital Alliance, which is opposed to the Mater location, Ray Martin said: "Our initial reaction (to the refusal of permission for the Mater project) is one of delight for sick kids and their parents and for future generations in this country."