Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said today he did not believe there was "any likelihood" of a new regional hospital being built in the northeast region "in the foreseeable future".
He said there was "not a red cent in the Exchequer" to pay for such a facility.
Mr Ahern was speaking following reports today that consultants will recommend to the Health Service Executive (HSE) Navan as the location for the new regional hospital.
"It should be remembered that this is no more than a recommendation that has to go to HSE and to Cabinet, and should not be regarded as a fait accompli." Labour Party health spokeswoman, Jan O'Sullivan
Speaking on LMFM radio station, the Minister said: "This is a report which will be present, I think, for sometime on some shelf because there isn’t a red cent in the exchequer for this new hospital and that’s the reality.
"I have said this over the last while to Brendan Drumm and [other] people. "In effect there is no money for it nor is there any likelihood of money for it in the foreseeable future particularly in the context of the economic situation and the exchequer situation."
Media reports said the HSE will receive a report from consultants appointed to carry out a study on the location of the hospital today. The new facility would effectively replace five acute hospitals around the region.
Labour Party health spokeswoman Jan O’Sullivan described the reports as "something of a surprise" and said other centres in the region would be far better served by transport.
She said the consideration relating to the "golden hour" during which emergency cases have to get to hospital would seem not to have been fully taken on board.
"The projected population of Navan would seem to have been the predominant determining factor in the decision to make this recommendation, whereas the ease of access by people from the entire region should be the foremost concern," she said.
"It should be remembered that this is no more than a recommendation that has to go to HSE and to Cabinet, and should not be regarded as a fait accompli."
Louth Fine Gael TD Fergus O’Dowd also said the location of the new regional hospital in Navan did not make any sense because of the distances involved in travel from towns such as Monaghan and Drogheda.
Sinn Féin health spokesman Caomghin Ó Caoláin said the new facility "might as well be in Dublin as in Navan" as far as the people of Monaghan, Louth and large parts of Cavan were concerned. "There is little difference in the distance they would have to travel, and road access would be superior."
Mr Ó Caoláin called for the development of the new regional hospital at an "appropriate, accessible location mindful of all the region’s needs".
There has been speculation the new hospital might be located near Drogheda, where the northeast's largest hospital is located.