Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 14 December 2021
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health
Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE
Mr. Kevin Morrison:
As the chief officer indicated, we always take into account what the commission says to us on the approved centres. This is an approved centre. It has been criticised and that is a matter of public record in the context of the Mental Health Commission's reports. The Deputy will have noted that in the last of the Mental Health Commission's reports, the size of the bedrooms was specifically mentioned and a number of other criticisms were made of this particular facility. In briefings and in answers to parliamentary questions, the criticisms of the Mental Health Commission were taken into account. However, the most important piece, as I outlined to the Deputy in my answer to the last question, was the fact that we had independent assessments in respect of the building. These indicated that no matter what we did with the building, it could not be brought up to an appropriate standard to deliver the service that we wanted to provide there.