The Health Minister Simon Harris has approved the contract for the first phase of the National Maternity Hospital.
Mr Harris updated the Cabinet on Tuesday on the project to re-develop the hospital on the St Vincent's University Hospital Campus.
He confirmed he is to approve the award of the pharmacy/car park contract, which is the first phase of the development.
The St Vincent's Healthcare Group has also confirmed the process by which the Religious Sisters of Charity will transfer their shareholding and withdraw from the group.
Assurances that the board will be competency based, and a review of current governance, will also be undertaken to bring it in line with modern standards.
The agreement in principle of St Vincent's Healthcare Group is to provide the State with a 99-year lease of the land on which the new maternity hospital will be built.
Minister Harris said this will allow the State to retain ownership of the new facility.
File photo
A suite of legal documents has been prepared to give effect to this agreement, and will be finalised in the new year.
The Department of Health says the documents fulfil two functions - they protect the State's financial investment in the new hospital, and further confirm that the NMH will retain its clinical and operational independence.
The minister confirmed that the overall legal framework will "unequivocally copper-fasten the principle that patient care in the new hospital will be delivered without religious, ethnic or other distinction".
He also said that any relevant medical procedure, which is in accordance with the laws of the land, will be carried out at the new hospital.
Health Minister Simon Harris | File photo
Minister Harris said: "I am satisfied that the progress we have made, allows us to move forward.
"I will now approve the award of the pharmacy/car park contract which is an important stage in the development of the new NMH.
"We have waited too long for this moment, but I am delighted that we have now reached a truly significant milestone, and excited that work will soon progress.
"This will enable us to achieve our ultimate goal of a landmark world class maternity facility for the benefit of the women and children of Ireland.
"The comprehensive legal framework prepared, and the commitments received from both hospitals, mean that I am fully confident that the new hospital will be owned by the State, that the NMH will be clinically and operationally independent and that no religious influence can, or will, be brought to bear on the new hospital."
