An Bord Pleanála has heard that the planned new children's hospital at the site of the existing Mater Hospital in Dublin will provide a "world-class medical facility".
According to the Evening Echo the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board - which is applying for permission on behalf of the HSE - has told a public oral hearing on the facility that the hospital would be 16 storeys high at its peak - and would consist of an Emergency Department, 392 beds, 53 day care beds, therapy areas and a hospital school.
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Barrister on behalf of the NPHDB, Michael O'Donnell, told the hearing that there is an urgent need for the hospital because the current infrastructure for children is "woefully lacking".
Despite positive attitudes about the medical facility concerns have also been voiced about the proposed site.
Dr Roisin Healy of the New Children's Hospital Alliance says it is too constricted, there is no room for expansion, and traffic in the area will pose a problem for parents.
She claims that the Government needs to go back to the beginning and choose a new location.
"That is where we need to go back and look at that with an open mind," she said.
"This current development board can't do that, they're not allowed to do that, they have to do what they can with the site they have, and it’s very compromised."
If planning permission is granted, it is hoped construction can begin on the site late next year.
(LB/BMcC)
