'Very strong reason' needed for Rotunda to move from current site, says Minister

Laura Coates and Vivienne Clarke

Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said, “I will be considering everything” with regard to options for the Rotunda Hospital.

Carroll-MacNeill was responding to a decision by An Coimisiún Pleanála to reject plans for a €100 million extension of the Rotunda Hospital intended to care for critically ill women and infants.

It was decided that the four-storey critical care building would cause irreparable damage to the character of Parnell Square.

Planning permission was originally granted by Dublin City Council in late July 2025, but was appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála by two third parties.

Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, the Minister said the extension for the Rotunda was a critical piece of infrastructure and she was very disappointed about the decision by An Coimisiún Pleanála.

Carroll-MacNeill said she would be meeting with the Master of the Rotunda in two weeks to consider their options. When asked if she would support a judicial review, she said “I will be considering everything.”

However, a judicial review could take “a very long time”, this was one of the faults of the planning system, she said.

Her concern was the delivery of a unit to care for critically ill young children. “The Rotunda is an incredible hospital, we all want this critical infrastructure to go ahead.”

At the weekend, speaking on RTÉ's This Week, the Master of the Rotunda Professor Seán Daly said he believed the Rotunda hospital "should stay where it is".

In 2015 the Government announced it was putting in place a plan for the Rotunda to relocate to Connolly Hospital. However, Prof Daly said he does not believe "it will ever happen".

Carroll-MacNeill agreed that the Rotunda should remain where it was given its proximity to the Mater Hospital as it was protected by a ‘Blue Light Corridor’.

It would be difficult to see the Connolly Hospital co-location happening. “The Rotunda works well with the Mater.”

The Minister said there would need to be a strong reason to deviate from the expansion plans for the Rotunda, the only decision that should be made, should be based on patient safety, she said.

Clinical needs were more important than the heritage aspect. The public benefit was best served by the planned expansion which would meet the needs of the people of Dublin.

“We have to protect the past, but look to the future.”

Carroll-MacNeill said that every option had to be examined.

Alarming

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has described the decision by An Coimisiún Pleanála to reject plans for a €100 million extension of the Rotunda Hospital intended to care for critically ill women and infants as “very disappointing and very alarming.”

Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with David McCullagh show, McDonald, who represents the constituency in which the Rotunda hospital is located, said that the Rotunda hospital provided excellent care in difficult circumstances, but it had been the victim of a lack of investment by successive governments.

There should never have been a decision in 2015 to co-locate the Rotunda with Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown, she added.

The proposal for a specialist neonatal intensive care unit was an extremely sensitive service that “desperately” needed investment. “The Rotunda needs to be invested in.”

It was the busiest maternity hospital in the country. “I hope the government is starting to get it right. It needs to be developed and invested in its current site.”

There had been extensive plans over the years to expand “all manner of services” at the hospital, said McDonald. The Rotunda had many “innovative and ambitious plans” over the years, but there had never been “a receptive audience” from the Government.

Ms McDonald said she was now seeking clarity that the Rotunda would remain in the inner city and would continue to provide an important service for women and their babies. It was an important site that needed significant investment.

“The plans are there.”

While the decision by an Coimisiún Pleanála was regrettable, maybe it would now “bring some level of sanity”, and all options could be examined.

McDonald said she accepted the bona fides of those concerned with the Georgian fabric of the city, but Parnell Square needed to be “liveable” and it needed to serve the needs of Dubliners “here and now”. The two needs were not irreconcilable.

“This was always going to be a challenge because of the nature of the Square itself.”

The Rotunda was already “effectively” a co-located hospital (with the Mater). “We need to figure out how to get long-needed investment for the Rotunda.”