The new National Maternity Hospital to provide for 10,000 births per annum, will accommodate full clinical maternity services for the Greater Dublin Area and some national specialist neo natal services. The project is expected to be a strategic infrastructure development and planning will be required to be submitted in accordance with applicable legislative and regulatory requirements. The new National Maternity Hospital will be a world class hospital that will facilitate excellence in the delivery of clinical services and in education, teaching and research. The new hospital will include: emergency department, operating theatres, out-patients, radiology and in-patient care with approximately 190 mainly single en suite bedrooms, with a 50 cot provision in Neo-Natal Intensive Care and Special Care baby unit. It is planned to realise these objectives within the context of a new national model for maternity healthcare services to provide consultant and mid-wifery led units within the hospital, co-located with St. Vincent's University Hospital.