Redevelopment: The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has signalled that there are "no difficulties" with current plans for the major redevelopment of the Mater and Temple Street hospitals in Dublin.
Their redevelopment, estimated to cost almost €500 million, will begin early next year if the Minister for Health Mary Harney allows tenders to be sought for the work soon.
Last month it emerged Ms Harney instructed the Health Service Executive (HSE) it should not proceed with plans to tender for the construction of the project without specific sanction from her department.
This caused concern in some quarters that the project, which involves rebuilding key parts of the Mater, including its A&E unit which is due to be doubled in size, and the relocation of Temple Street children's hospital to the Mater campus, could be delayed.
However, Mr Ahern said yesterday, when he attended a ceremony to mark the completion of the main building works on a new centre for nurse education at the Mater, that he was going to take an active part in the project. "My understanding is there are no difficulties with it," he said.
"Detailed plans and costings for operation of the new facilities have been the subject of discussions between the hospital and the HSE in the last number of weeks," he said.
He said the costings were due to be approved by the hospital board today and a report would be submitted to the director of the National Hospitals Office before the end of the week. "Once the costings have been approved, we can see the next stage under way without delay and the development is expected to take approximately four years to complete. I hope that there can be a swift conclusion to the necessary discussions on the associated current costs of the development so that this important capital project proceeds without delay," he said.
Furthermore, while Ms Harney said earlier this month she no longer wanted to see specialised treatment services for children spread across "a number of sites", Mr Ahern said regardless of where specialities were based, he wanted to reassure people that Temple Street hospital was still going to move to the Mater hospital site. He promised "a proper children's hospital" would be built there.
Sr Helena O'Donoghue, chairwoman of the Mater and Children's Hospital Development, said she was "very reassured" by the Taoiseach's comments. She said the new hospital project had been agreed six years ago and those involved were anxiously but confidently awaiting the go-ahead. The present hospital building was "archaic and unsuitable", she said.
The costings to be submitted to the National Hospitals Office indicate it will cost around €10 million more per annum to run services in the new Mater/Temple Street complex which will be the most expensive healthcare project in the State's history.
The increase is largely due to increased staffing levels and the calculation is based on the same number of patients being treated in the new development. Under current plans the old Mater building will be transformed into a day hospital when the new development is complete and the Department of Health has given approval for the current Temple Street site to be used as a step-down facility for patients who no longer need acute care.