Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Níl aon rud pearsanta ann ach tá mé míshásta nach bhfuil an tAire féin anseo. An uair dheireanach a bhí Saincheist Tráthúla agam, ní raibh an tAire ann ach an oiread agus bhí mé ag caint ar an ábhar seo ansin fosta.

The Minister of State might not be aware of it but there are no child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, in north Louth. Sin é. Children who need CAMHS must travel to Drogheda for them. Despite the best efforts of the staff at Ladywell Daycare Centre in Dundalk it is impossible to deliver proper and effective community mental health services from a facility that is old, decrepit and unfit for purpose. I have been raising my concerns about this issue for years.

A new primary care centre for Dundalk was first announced in 2008 when the HSE advertised for expressions of interest to develop a centre. Over ten years later, not a brick has been laid. Information from the HSE, the Department of Health and the Minister has been confused and conflicting. In November 2016 I was advised, in response to a parliamentary question, that it was hoped the operational lease process for the primary care centre would be completed in the first quarter of 2017. In August 2018, I was told that the planning application would be submitted by the end of 2018, work would commence in 2019 and the centre would be open early in 2020. In April, in response to another Topical Issue matter I raised, the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Phelan, indicated:

Louth-Meath mental health services are currently looking at a new town centre location in Dundalk with a view to providing improved CAMHS to north Louth. The HSE is hopeful that this will come on-stream toward the end of the year.

This was news to everyone. It is was the last anyone heard of it.

When I queried this information, I was told, in a letter Mr. David Walsh, the national director of community operations, last week, that disability services are now seeking space in the primary care centre. There was no mention of the town centre location. While I would welcome disability services being in the primary care centre, why was this not part of the original plan? I was also told that this new development has resulted in a requirement to review the project, that this has resulted in a delay and that the new updated proposal will require additional approval from the HSE property resource group, that is, the additional space that is now considered required. Last Friday, two days later, I received a letter from the Minister which states that a preferred provider was identified and a letter of intent issued last August. The Minister repeats that the Dundalk primary care centre is at design stage, but he makes no mention of the disability services now being part of the proposed centre. He does not mention the need to review the project or that the project will be delayed. It would appear that the Minister does not know what is happening with Dundalk primary care centre.

Incompetence has been a mark of this Government. Such incompetence leaves the most vulnerable in our society behind. The lack of child and adolescent mental health services for the young people of north Louth is unacceptable, as is the way the Government has failed to address the need for a primary care centre for north Louth and Dundalk. Can the Minister of State clarify the current timeline for the design stage of Dundalk primary care centre? How long will the review take? What are the cost implications? Will a new letter of intent be required and does this mean there is to be a new process and so forth? When will construction commence and what is the expected opening date now for Dundalk primary care centre?

See this speech in context