Compulsory purchase of NMH site could delay project by 15 years, says Stephen Donnelly

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly insisted the new hospital would be fully independent. File Picture: Damien Storan.

Compulsory purchasing the proposed site of the new National Maternity Hospital could delay the project by another 15 years, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said.

“If we were to start again, there'll be no guarantee of co-location, which means, less good specialist care for women. And I think we could well be adding 10 to 15 years to the project. And I simply do not believe that we should do that. We've been talking about this for long enough we need to get this hospital built,” he said.