Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. I could address many issues concerning the mental health services in the Roscommon-Galway constituency but I wish to focus specifically on one issue that is referenced in the motion. That relates to the Rosalie home in Castlerea in west Roscommon. Back in 2015, the Health Service Executive and the then Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, Kathleen Lynch, apologised to the residents of the unit for the manner in which a clinical assessment was carried out without their knowledge or the consent of the next of kin. The assessment was used as a justification for the closure of the long-stay residential unit.

In 2018, a similar clinical assessment was carried out with the same purpose in mind, again without consent. In fact, the next of kin were specifically informed by the clinician that it was not a clinical assessment. The Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, stated he was satisfied with the way in which the HSE had handled the situation. In a reply to me, dated 21 June, he stated it was in line with best professional practice. That is not in line with best professional practice. That is not the case and an immediate stay must now be put on any transfer of residents, pending a full, independent review of the treatment by the HSE of the residents over the past four years. The debacle must be addressed once and for all.

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