The Tallaght Hospital Action Group has called on the Government to review its plan for a single children's hospital in Dublin, supported by three urgent care centres around the city.
In a pre-Budget submission, the group says that the proposal will not provide safe, easily accessible healthcare for large numbers of sick children and is not in keeping with best international practice.
In its 18-page analysis 'Value for Money or Waste of Money?', the group says the existing plan would provide one fully functioning accident and emergency department for children for the greater Dublin area at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital site.
There would be no overnight beds for children on the southside of the city, or for the wider catchment areas of Wicklow and Kildare, the group says.
Group Chairman Richie O'Reilly said the organisation was not objecting to the children's hospital being built at the Mater site, but that it should be smaller and the needs of the greater Dublin area must be catered for.
The report also says that in the current economic environment, the plan could cost around €1bn and needs an independent assessment.
It says the existing plan would see one small skeleton first aid day facility at Tallaght to replace the existing national children's hospital, despite the projected population growth for the area.
It argues that paediatric emergency medicine should be delivered at two fully functioning A&E departments in Dublin, one on the northside and one on the southside of the city.
