Five of the main adult teaching hospitals in Dublin have made submissions to be considered as the site for the new national children's hospital, the most expensive healthcare project in the history of the State..
There has, however, also been strong speculation within the health service in general in recent days that a non-hospital location, such as the 70-acre site at Grangegorman in north Dublin city, could be considered as the location for the new hospital.
By a deadline of last Friday evening, five hospitals - St James's, St Vincent's, Tallaght, the Mater and Beaumont - had all replied to invitations for expression of interest sent out by the Health Service Executive (HSE). It was unclear last night as to whether Blanchardstown hospital had also made a bid.
In addition, the group behind the private-sector Beacon Hospital in south Dublin has said it wished to be considered for provision of the new facility at a site in Sandyford. It has said it could have a new privately-funded children's hospital in place in three years.
The Grangegorman site is already earmarked for the development of a new centralised Dublin Institute of Technology campus.
However there has been strong speculation that a paediatric hospital developed at Grangegorman would be able to have links to a number of adult hospitals providing specialist medical services.
There have also been suggestions that this site would be large enough to facilitate any future amalgamation of maternity services in Dublin.
The planned national children's hospital will have about 380 beds. It is expected to cost well in excess of €500 million.
The new hospital will be the only facility in Dublin providing overnight, inpatient beds for children. However it is envisaged there will be a number of local paediatric accident and emergency units elsewhere in the city.
The submissions from the various hospitals will be considered by a HSE/Department of Health group in the weeks ahead.
A recommendation from the group on the future location of the new hospital is expected to go before the HSE board next month.
A recent report by consultants McKinsey for the HSE said there were huge benefits of having the children's hospital "co-located" with an adult hospital. It defined "co-location" variously as being adjacent to the adult campus or "within practical walking distance".
Tallaght hospital will today formally announce that it has launched a bid to be the site of the new hospital. It already houses the existing National Children's Hospital and a number of adult medical specialties.
Tallaght hospital has also been in discussion with South Dublin County Council about securing several additional acres of land to facilitate the project. It is expected to highlight transport links such as its proximity to the M50 and its location on the Luas line.
A spokesman for St James's Hospital confirmed last night it has also expressed an interest in the project.
It is understood that St James's has proposed a site on its own campus for the development of a children's hospital. Sources said the hospital also indicated that its bid would be supported by Our Lady's hospital in Crumlin and the Coombe Women's Hospital. It has also highlighted its location on a Luas line.
The Mater has maintained it has a cleared brownfield site which would facilitate early delivery of the project. It says its bid is backed by the Rotunda and Temple Street hospitals. It has also highlighted that it is on one of the proposed Metro routes in Dublin.
A spokesman for St Vincent's hospital also confirmed last night that it had entered the race for the project. St Vincent's already has a number of national medical specialties such as liver transplants.
Beaumont Hospital said last month that it would be seeking the new children's hospital for its campus. It is already a national centre for neurosurgery and will be the base for the new radiotherapy service for north Dublin.
