The Minister for Health and Children has said that the Government is determined to proceed with the development of a new national children's hospital on a site at the Mater Hospital in Dublin.
Mary Harney said she was satisfied that the recommendation by the Health Service Executive to locate the new hospital at the Mater site was made after a rigorous and independent assessment process.
Ms Harney's comments came after Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin decided not to take part in the development.
Labour's Deputy Leader and health spokesperson, Liz McManus, described the hospital's decision not to engage in the plans as a very significant development.
She said it was difficult to see how this project could proceed without the participation of the foremost paediatric hospital in the country.
The decision was made by the board of the hospital, which is the biggest children's hospital in Ireland and a national referral centre.
Last year, the Government accepted a recommendation of the Mater site from the HSE.
It followed a recommendation from a task force and independent consultants that the new 380-bed hospital should be located in Dublin, close to a main adult hospital.
The three children's hospitals due to move to the facility are the National Children's Hospital at Tallaght, Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin, and the Children's Hospital in Temple Street.
But now the board of Our Lady's in Crumlin has decided not to engage in the development of the new facility because it does not believe the Mater site is suitable.
The HSE says it is very disappointed with the decision given that at this stage an outline of what the new hospital needs is being developed.
The executive says it cannot understand what Crumlin Hospital believes it can achieve by excluding itself from a critical process and how this could in any way be seen to best serve the interests of sick children.
In December, nursing staff at Crumlin issued a statement saying that a world class children's hospital had been promised but what was being offered was a facility with fewer beds, less space and poorer facilities than patients and their families currently enjoy in Dublin's three existing hospitals.
