Costello criticises handling of the National Paediatric Hospital Project

23 February 2012

by Cllr Joe Costello

I am deeply disappointed with the new delay in the proposal for the National Paediatric Hospital due to the flawed plans drawn up by the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board.

MEP Emer Costello and I made an oral submission to the An Bord Pleanála hearing. While broadly supporting the location of the National Paediatric Hospital on the Mater Hospital Site, we expressed a number of concerns. In particular, there was inadequate consultation with local residents, the plans contravened the statutory Phibsborough Local Area Plan and a building of such height and mass would have a major impact on the skyline of the city.

The architects should have gone back to the drawing board before presenting such an intrusive, high-rise development.

I welcome the Government's decision to establish a review body to look at how to proceed with the development of the hospital. With the funding in place, the Government must now make an early decision to revisit the plans and see if a revised set of proposals can be developed in the short term so that the planned completion time of 2016 can be achieved. The children of Ireland deserve no less than a first-class children's hospital, and the children's needs must be our priority.