Meath County Councillors have welcomed the recommendation that the new North East hospital be located in Navan.

The council said it will try to ensure that the planning process for the 750-bed, €650 million hospital "goes through as quickly as possible".

The council also criticised the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, who said last week that there was not a "red cent" in the exchequer for the proposed hospital. Fine Gael Deputy Fergus O'Dowd also came under fire for criticising the recommendation on the grounds that Navan doesn't have a motorway or rail line.

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Mr O'Dowd also said the decision had been made by "unelected, unaccountable, unnamed" bureaucrats and claimed the hospital would be better located in Drogheda, which has better transport links and a bigger population.

"I am disappointed by the remarks made by Minister Dermot Ahern and Deputy O'Dowd. If the shoe was on the other foot, the "red cent" would not have been mentioned," said County Chairman Nick Killian.

The hospital is to serve the counties of Meath, Louth, Monaghan and Cavan. It is expected to open in 2015, creating around 2,500 jobs.

The Health Service Executive said, however, that it has yet to make a decision on the location of the hospital.

(VB/JM)