Construction of a new €100 million private hospital in the grounds of the Adare Manor Hotel in Co Limerick is expected to start shortly after planning permission was upheld by An Bord Pleanála.
The planning appeals body upheld an earlier decision by Limerick County Council to grant permission for the 100-bed private hospital, which will be known as the Adare Hospital & Clinic.
West Limerick TD Dan Neville welcomed the decision and said that it would bring an estimated €25 million annually to the local economy.
"I wholeheartedly welcome this decision . . . It will create employment for 400 people once it is completed and there will also be employment for 200 people during its construction," he said.
The project will be overseen by the founding president of the University of Limerick, Dr Ed Walsh, who is chairman of a steering committee behind the development.
The committee also comprises the owner of Adare Manor Hotel and principal investor in the new hospital, US businessman Tom Kane.
A decision by Limerick County Council in May to grant planning permission for the project to Adare Partners LP was subsequently appealed by a Cork-based firm of consultant engineers, John Paul Lennon & Co.
The appeal was based on the grounds that the proposed development was premature pending completion of the Adare bypass and the upgrading of sewage treatment facilities to serve the proposed hospital.