New Children's Hospital Foundations Will Be Laid Within Weeks
It's been confirmed the cost of the new national children's hospital will be over one billion euro - more than one and a half times the last estimate in 2014.
Cabinet has approved the project today with the foundations to be laid within weeks at the site next to St. James's hospital in Dublin, with the new facility to open towards the end of 2021.
The rising cost of construction and longer than anticipated planning and procurement processes are partly to blame.
Speaking earlier Health Minister Simon Harris also says they've added in extra facilities including "equipping" and said he "won't apologise for the government making a significant investment".
The new facility at St James will be the size of Dundrum Shopping Centre and the length of Grafton Street. The hospital will have over 6 thousand rooms and 6 hundred family parking spaces.
The project has been dogged with controversy for years. It was originally planned for the Mater but failed to get planning permission.
Following a lengthy review, an expert recommended in 2012 that the facility should be co-located with St James', with satellite centres at Tallaght and Connolly.
The Dolphin report said Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown would probably be a better option from a planning point of view, but would take years of investment to get it to the standard of the teaching hospital in The Liberties.
However campaigners have consistently claimed there isn't enough room on the St James' campus and reps for residents have raised concerns about how the extra traffic in the area will affect their quality of life.
The Jack and Jill Foundation wants the hospital to be built in Blanchardstown, where it will be easier to access for most of the country.
However following years of delays, the St James' building project has finally been given Cabinet approval and the foundations will be laid within weeks.
Professor Owen Smith, a Consultant Paediatric Haematologist at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin said “It is hard to put into words the positive impact that this new children’s hospital will have on the health outcomes and overall welfare of children and young people."