James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is fine. I thank Mr. Fitzgerald for that answer. A suggestion made last night was quite a palatable one for the people involved. Everyone to whom I have spoken told me that they would like to see this service being retained in the Midleton area and that some alternative location for the provision of the residential services would be found there. That, in turn, would allow the HSE the time to go in and do whatever needs to be done in the Owenacurra Centre building. It might mean levelling and rebuilding it to provide a new service which would be fit for purpose. I am aware that there are significant concerns regarding the current building. Nobody disputes the issues which have been detailed in the reports released by the Mental Health Commission. I refer in particular to the deterioration in the building that occurred between the 2018 and 2020 reports. I have noted that aspect.

I am extremely concerned about what the HSE is trying to do. I state that as a Deputy from the east Cork area. I have also known people who have used this service and have seen at first hand the fantastic work done by people working alongside the service users. I know some of the staff as well. Mr. Fitzgerald mentioned what was in the best interests of the service users. I do not agree, however, with the move that has been made to relocate people to different centres. There is a great degree of confusion in this regard. I accept that there must be dialogue between service users and their families regarding whether they consent to allowing them to be aware of the information about where they might potentially be moved to. I am concerned though by the degree of confusion I heard expressed by family members last night at the meeting in the Midleton Park Hotel. Is it an option for the HSE to examine refurbishing the current unit, perhaps even knocking it down and rebuilding it? Is that a possibility?