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	An Taisce calls for site to be moved from St James&rsquo;s Hospital to land near Coombe</p>
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	An Taisce has called on the Government to move the site for the proposed new national children&rsquo;s hospital from St James&rsquo;s Hospital to land beside the Coombe Hospital nearby.</p>
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	In a letter to Taoiseach Enda Kenny, the group warns that the Government is &ldquo;sleepwalking&rdquo; into a situation where the new hospital won&rsquo;t be co-located with a maternity hospital.</p>
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	It says the project could fall foul of planning laws by failing to provide for co-location with a maternity hospital, leading to further delays.</p>
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	&ldquo;Unless action is taken now, this reality will only be brought home to the wider public as the planning process unfolds &ndash; a time when it is too late to remedy the problem,&rdquo; the letter from An Taisce policy director James Nix states.</p>
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	One year ago, the Government announced that the children&rsquo;s hospital, the biggest capital project to be undertaken during its term in office, is to be built at St James&rsquo;s.</p>
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	The much-delayed project was originally supposed to be built at the Mater Hospital in Dublin&rsquo;s north city, but this plan changed after planning permission was refused.</p>
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	&nbsp;</p>
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	<strong>Sick babies</strong></p>
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	However, even after the hospital is built at St James&rsquo;s, an average of 500 very sick babies would have be transported by ambulance from maternity hospitals for treatment in the children&rsquo;s hospital.</p>
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	Over 40 paediatricians from Our Lady&rsquo;s Children&rsquo;s Hospital in Crumlin said last year it was critical to locate the new project next to a maternity hospital where such high-risk babies could be delivered.</p>
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	Minister for Health James Reilly says the new hospital, which the Programme for Government committed to building by 2016, will now be ready in 2018.</p>
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	An Taisce says the &ldquo;apparent failure&rdquo; to co-locate the children&rsquo;s hospital with a maternity hospital, as recommended in a number of expert reports, &ldquo;sends alarm bells ringing&rdquo;.</p>
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	&ldquo;To fail to provide for maternity co-location would be to engage in project splitting. Project splitting would, in turn, fall foul of basic requirements set out in Irish and European planning law, bringing about a repeat of the previous delay all over again.&rdquo;</p>
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	An Taisce says Mr Kenny can &ldquo;steer the project on to the right course&rdquo; by extending the Government&rsquo;s decision of last November to the entire Dublin Midlands hospital group which includes St James&rsquo;s and the Coombe and moving the project to a 15-acre site adjacent to the Coombe.</p>
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	It says this land, which is controlled by Nama and Dublin City Council, offers outstanding benefits for co-locating with the maternity hospital in the Coombe.</p>
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	The land is larger than the site available at St James&rsquo;s, has more access points and would allow for vital space to be preserved at St James&rsquo;s for the expansion of cancer facilities there, Mr Nix argues.</p>
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	&nbsp;</p>
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	<strong>&lsquo;Unpardonable&rsquo;</strong></p>
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	&ldquo;It would be unpardonable to find out in five or 10 years&rsquo; time that there remained insufficient space left for a maternity hospital; hence the need to right the course now, rather than run a clear risk.&rdquo;</p>
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	The new hospital will bring together the three existing Dublin children&rsquo;s hospitals at Crumlin, Tallaght and Temple Street. Eilish Hardiman started work as chief executive of the Children&rsquo;s Hospital Group on Friday and work has started to decant existing activities on the site at the west end of St James&rsquo;s in order to make way for the new building.</p>
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	<a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/new-concerns-over-children-s-hospital-site-1.1582497">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/new-concerns-over-children-s-hospital-site-1.1582497</a></p>
