Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The doors will not close. The manner in which this issue is being handled is very unedifying because letters went to patients and the families of vulnerable patients before any letter was issued to the HSE. Like Deputy Brady, I know St. Joseph's very well. It is a superb facility with incredible staff. I know many of its residents and their families personally.

There are two parts to the facility. The day care centre is funded by the HSE. As we speak, the HSE is intensively engaging to try to agree additional funding to keep it open. The second part is a residential facility, the price for which is negotiated through the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, in respect of which there is also a mechanism in place. This facility will not close. The way to resolve the issue is to engage intensively. I hope that engagement can take place productively and constructively, rather than in the worrying way it is being conveyed through the media. St. Joseph's is a brilliant facility. It needs to be supported and it will be supported and remain open.

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