The Irish Planning Institute (IPI), the body which represents professional planners, has called for the inclusion of a planner on the Expert Review Group on the National Children's Hospital appointed by the Minister for Health, Dr James Reilly.

"We are very concerned that a professional planner may not be included in this group," said IPI President, Mr Brendan Allen, who added: "In view of the planning concerns raised by the Bord Pleanala decision it would be extraordinary if planners were left out."

It has been reported that the Review Group, to be appointed next week, will include members who have architectural and clinical expertise.

While the IPI welcomed the Minister's decision to set up a Review Group, Mr Allen said: "It is essential that an experienced spatial planner should be part of this body so that any future decision in relation to the location of the hospital, wherever this might be, is based on sound planning principles as well as medical needs."

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He pointed out that the IPI have advocated for many years that National Strategic projects should be "planned for" through the established National, Regional and Local planning structure so that when they appear as projects "nobody is surprised at the size, scale and location of such projects".

An Bord Pleanála decisions, in particular the recent decisions on the National Children's Hospital and the Slane Bypass, demonstrated why spatial planners should be involved from the outset so the key strategic planning issues are determined before the detailed design begins.

Mr Allen stated: "Forward planning is the key to the successful delivery of infrastructure projects as it means that the hard decisions in relation to the principle are taken early on before millions are spent on detailed design. In an era where public money is limited, forward planning is the less costly area of planning and needs to be the focus of planning for future strategic infrastructure development."