The Government has reversed its decision to shelve plans for a €40 million, 120-bed facility for cystic fibrosis patients at St Vincent¿s Hospital in Dublin.
The unit will now proceed to tender and is expected to be operational by early 2011.
Under the new plan developers will not be paid any money until the facility is completed. Previously funding for the project would have involved staged payments throughout the construction period.
Announcing the decision tonight the Minister for Health Mary Harney said: ¿I am very pleased that an innovative way has been found to deliver this project.¿
¿This project has always been a priority and never ceased to be so, I want to see it progressing now with urgency,¿ she added.
Ireland has the highest incidence of CF in the world and CF patients require single hospital rooms as they are more prone to picking up infections if accommodated on open wards.
The new unit at St Vincent¿s will have 120 beds and about 30 of these will be in single rooms with en suite facilities for CF patients.