Submissions: The former grounds of the British ambassador's residence at Glencairn in south Dublin is Beacon Medical Group's (BMG) proposed site for the €500 million national children's hospital.
The 22-acre site is located directly beside the proposed extension to the Luas Green Line and adjacent to the M50. The land originally formed part of Glencairn, the large mansion and extensive grounds sold by the British Foreign Office to Michael Cotter's Park Developments around eight years ago.
The British government sold Glencairn and its grounds for security and operational reasons in 1999. However, the ambassador still resides in the house and the embassy is currently negotiating with Park Developments to buy back the house.
Located close to Leopardstown Racecourse and Bewley's Hotel, the prime development site was earmarked for a residential development. However, BMG has an option to buy the site if its bid for the 380-bed national children's hospital is successful, chief executive of BMG Michael Cullen told The Irish Times.
BMG is one of seven Dublin hospitals competing to secure the project; the others are St James's, St Vincent's, the Mater, Connolly, Beaumont and Tallaght.
The Government-appointed task group charged with making a recommendation on the location of the national children's hospital is due to report to the Health Service Executive (HSE) next week.
Tallaght Hospital unveiled its plans to the public three weeks ago. Now BMG has revealed details of its bid. It proposes to build the hospital on a site 1.5 miles from its own private-sector Beacon Hospital in Sandyford, which is due to open in September. The group says its plan has the support of St Vincent's Hospital which could run the hospital if the bid is successful.
BMG's bid highlights the site's accessibility - the M50 is less than a minute away by car and the new Luas line extension will run outside the hospital gates.
A key aspect of BMG's bid is the ability to provide a 40,000 sq m (450,000sq ft) maternity hospital as well as lots of space for further development, according to Mr Cullen. "We think it is important to provide for a maternity hospital because of the shortage of capacity in Dublin hospitals," he said.
With it now taking an average of 14-18 years to deliver a new hospital in Ireland, BMG's ability to build the Beacon Hospital in under three years is a strong selling point, according to Mr Cullen.
While the cost of building the paediatric hospital could not be established at such an early stage, Mr Cullen said BMG's experience with the Beacon Hospital was that it cost approximately €1 million per bed.
"We don't think it's appropriate for a private hospital to run the national children's hospital but it's very appropriate for a company like ourselves to undertake to deliver a fully finished turnkey facility."
Meanwhile, St James's, Blanchardstown, St Vincent's and Beaumont have declined to reveal details of their submissions to the HSE.
The Mater bid is understood to have argued that the new children's hospital would be incorporated into the Mater's own expansion plans, so that the new facility would not have to fit in with an out-of-date adult hospital. There would also be room for future development.