The Rotunda Hospital in Dublin has said it believes its future has been clarified, that it will be remaining on its Parnell Square site and will develop its services there.
It told the Oireachtas Committee on Health that its planned development of the critical care wing (CCW) is being revised and that it hopes to meet An Coimisiún Pleanála over the next few months for a preliminary meeting.
In February, An Coimisiún Pleanála overturned planning permission for a new €100 million critical care wing at the Rotunda.
Master of the Rotunda Professor Seán Daly said that the importance of the CCW, in terms of national infrastructure, is evidenced by the fact that while it is one of four national specialised referral facilities, it cared for 32% of all babies transferred for care last year.
He said the new unit will expand the capacity for very premature or very sick babies nationally and is de-facto national infrastructure.
Prof Daly said the hospital is essentially co-located with the nearby Mater hospital, a major "Level 4" hospital, due to significant clinical links.
The Maternity Strategy 2016-2026 suggested that the Rotunda would move to the site of Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown but Prof Daly told the committee that Connolly is a "Level 3" hospital, with no plans to upgrade it.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill in February that said her intention is to focus on the future of the Rotunda on the current site, and it is open to a future government to take a different approach.
Meanwhile, the HSE has told the committee that the evaluation of the 2016 National Maternity Strategy should be completed by the end of June.
It said that maternity services are seeing a higher level of complexity, increased rates of induction of labour and Caesarean section, and an increase in the percentage of women aged over 35 years giving birth.
The HSE also said that the proportion of mothers whose place of birth was outside Ireland has increased to over 28.8%.
It told the committee that maternity services are facing considerable staffing pressures and outdated infrastructure, with just five of the 19 maternity units meeting the HIQA standards in its 2020 review.
Prof Daly also said that the plan for the new development will look to be one floor smaller than what was in the earlier plan.
He told the committee that the Rotunda is very conscious of the conservation and concerns around the plans.
Committee chairperson and Social Democrats TD Pádraig Rice expressed surprise at the HSE's point that there is currently no agreed definition of what co-location is.
Following questions from Sinn Féin health spokesperson David Cullinane, the HSE said it accepted that the plan to co-locate the Coombe Hospital at the St James's campus will not happen in the next 10 years.
However, the Coombe has submitted significant development plans for its own site.
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