Government to consider judicial review after plans for new wing at Dublin maternity hospital rejected

Health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said her concern was how to deliver the new critical wing quickly

The Government will consider a judicial review after plans for a new wing for critical care of women and children at Dublin's Rotunda Hospital were rejected, the health minister has said.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said discussions would  take place with master of the Rotunda, Sean Daly.

“Obviously, the Government is trying to reduce the number of judicial reviews; we don’t favour them as part of the planning process, in the sense that they add even more time,” Ms Carroll MacNeill said.

The project would have provided for 80 extra hospital beds, alongside a new theatre and connection to the existing entrance and main hospital buildings.

The wing had previously been approved by Dublin City Council, but was subject to further objections from the Dublin Civic Trust and an individual.

An Coimisiún Pleanála rejected the recommendation of its planning inspector to give permission.

Ms Carroll MacNeill said her concern and that of Mr Daly surrounded how to deliver the infrastructure quickly.

“Whether that’s through a judicial review route, potentially or through other mechanisms,” she added.

She said Mr Daly is engaging with officials at the Department of Health, saying she would meet with the hospital master next week to discuss options.

Asked if the Government should consider the expedited passage of its critical infrastructure legislation, which would allow key projects bypass the planning process, Ms Carroll MacNeill said she believed health infrastructure should be included.

During leaders’ questions, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Government believes the project is in the “overwhelming public interest”.

Mr Martin said he believed there was an “issue” surrounding the prioritisation of heritage considerations, over the protection of human life.

Holly Cairns, leader of the Social Democrats, said the hospital was the busiest in the country.

She visited the site on Monday to speak with Rotunda staff after the “devastating” planning rejection, she said.

She visited the neonatal ICU facilities in the Rotunda, saying it is a small room “stuffed full of equipment that overflows into the surrounding corridors”.

“One mum, with her tiny, gorgeous baby on her chest, was afraid to lean too far back in her chair in case she hit another incubator,” Ms Cairns said.

“No privacy, no dignity, no proper protection from hospital-acquired infections.”

Ms Cairns said the decision from An Comisiun Pleanála was "unbelievable", while questioning what the Government would do to deal with the matter.

In response, Mr Martin said he hoped the opposition would vote with the Government to introduce critical infrastructure legislation, saying some projects should bypass the planning system “altogether”.