The Cabinet yesterday reaffirmed its decision to locate the new national children's hospital at Dublin's Mater hospital.
The move, after several days of controversy over the plan, did not quell debate on the issue, however, and staff at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin continued to call for an independent review of the decision.
A member of the board of Tallaght hospital continued to insist that the new hospital should be located across two sites, not just at the Mater.
Minister for Health Mary Harney briefed the Cabinet on the controversy, and afterwards a Government spokesman said the Cabinet had "strongly reaffirmed the decision to develop the children's hospital on the Mater site".
The plan will see the three existing hospitals for children in Dublin - Crumlin, Tallaght and Temple Street - merged into one on the Mater site.
Temple Street is the only hospital currently supporting the plan. Dr Owen Hensey, chairman of the medical board at the hospital, said there was no need for another review of the decision to choose the Mater site.
"I'm confident that we can work together, and I would hope that the opinions of the three existing hospitals will be harnessed and turned into a positive force in this development."
However, Dr Fin Breathnach, a consultant oncologist at Crumlin, said an independent review of the decision was essential. If an international panel also came to the conclusion that the Mater site was best, Crumlin would accept it.
Crumlin is concerned about the size of the Mater site and its accessibility. It has been looking at rebuilding on its own site or at a greenfield site if its concerns are not addressed.
The decision to locate the new hospital at the Mater was made by a taskforce representative of the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Department of Health and the Office of Public Works.
It consulted parents' groups and hospitals, and visited possible sites. In its report, published last May, the taskforce said "advice was also sought from clinicians in other countries on specific issues".
Following recent reports that people were given the impression the experts had recommended the Mater site when they had not, the HSE reiterated yesterday that it did not ask the international experts to recommend the site.
"That is what we were charged with doing as a task group. We just tapped into that expertise to inform us, and I think that is very clearly articulated in our taskforce report, if people would read it," Fionnuala Duffy of the HSE said.
The board of Crumlin hospital, which last week decided not to co-operate with the move to the Mater, is to meet again next week. Its chairman, Dr Diarmuid Martin, the Archbishop of Dublin, was not present when the decision was made last week and afterwards he appealed for dialogue. A spokesman for the archbishop said yesterday he would also be unable to attend next week's meeting due to an engagement.
Dr Fergus O'Ferrall, a member of the board of Tallaght hospital, said his hospital had over 20 acres available for development. The new hospital should be based across two sites. This would be important even for safety reasons.
The hospital hoped to meet Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Ms Harney shortly. "We want to put to them a positive solution that will transcend the existing impasse that has been reached."
A consultant working at the Mater and Temple Street, Dr Michael O'Keeffe, said the controversy was to some extent "turf warfare" between the hospitals.
However, Dr O'Ferrall said the way to transcend turf wars was by engaging with people and listening to them. There was strong evidence that the process up to now had been defective in this regard.