The Health Service Executive (HSE) has applied for retention for the removal and relocation of a religious statue from Killarney Community Hospital in County Kerry.
The HSE removed the statue from the facade of the facility, where the statue had been in place for 70 years, in March 2010 and placed it on the ground floor level on health and safety grounds.
However a vociferous campaign, led by the then Mayor of Killarney Donal O'Grady to have the statue returned to its original resting place has seen the planning appeals board step into the row.
Killarney Town Council decided in January of this year that the removal of the statue was an exempted development that would not require planning permission.
This decision was referred to An Bórd Pleanála by Cllr O'Grady and the board overturned it.
An Bord Pleanala ruled that the removal of the statue would have required the HSE to secure planning permission.
The HSE had argued that the statue was removed for health and safety reasons and told the board that, as it was mounted on the flat-roof structure, it did not alter the character of the building structure.
In its ruling, however the board said the statue constituted a prominent element in the external appearance of Killarney Community Hospital and contributed significantly to the character of the structure.
It also ruled that the removal of the statue materially affects the structure so as “to render the appearance inconsistent with the character of the structure.”
This week the HSE confirmed that it has applied for permission for retention for the removal and relocation of the existing statue and permission to provide a single storey entrance lobby to the hospital.
Killarney Town Council's planning section is currently examining the application and expects to make a decision on November 23.