Professor Chris Fitzpatrick:

My understanding is that plans are being made to develop a cancer hospital at the St. James's site. According to an Irish Times editorial, there is a need to address cancer issues in the hospital, which is the largest cancer hospital in the State. That site has a maximum capacity. What one would not want to happen is that in 2023, when the doors of the new paediatric hospital open, that there will be no space for a maternity hospital. That is why I believe the space should be identified, along with planning, decanting and demolition issues, and that process should start now. The Taoiseach, when he was Minister for Health, asked for a planning application to be submitted at the same time for the children's hospital and the maternity hospital. I am not certain why that did not happen. It may have been because after the Mater site had failed planning, that were it made any more complex, it could fail planning again but it is time to grasp the nettle. There is a total lack of credibility and trust on this. Those of us who work on the front line in relation to babies feel that we have been sidelined regarding the patients whom we feel are important.

There is a way of dealing with this. It is too late to stop the project. Academically and in terms of the specialties, St. James's is the best place and we must make it work. Regarding the space available and what it would entail in co-locating onto that site, flexibility could be put into place that would allow this to happen sooner rather than later. The message needs to go out to all those who genuinely object to the site because of the absence of co-location that this is now a Government priority.

I am reluctant to throw out figures because I have seen back-of-the-envelope calculations before which were widely out of range. The St. Vincent's Hospital project is now at approximately €300 million, whereas it began at €150 million. It is more than 45,000 m².