Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this legislation. I have had some experience of the Central Mental Hospital in my capacity as a union organiser. Very few people in this House have ever been in it. Not only have I been in it, but I have been in it on many occasions. When conducting a ballot for industrial action with shift workers, I have had occasion to be in it until 3 o'clock in the morning. I should point out, however, that I have never been in it for reasons other than work.

The hospital is not fit for purpose and has not been fit for purpose for a very long time. It is welcome that the people in it will be moving to this new facility. However, this is not just a place where people are cared for or a place for the residents; this is also a place of work. The people who work in the Central Mental Hospital are some of the best people and workers the Government has working in the health service. They give 110%. They give their all and they do so in circumstances that are inhumane for both the people who have to live there and endure them and the people working there. This is very welcome and is also welcomed by people in Portrane. There are some concerns about additional traffic, which I am sure can and will be addressed. People want to keep the additional road that was put in there.

I am concerned about the potential industrial relations aspects of the move. A committee is meeting at the moment under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC. While the move is only 31 km on paper, it will take workers much longer to get to the hospital because they will have to travel along the M50. I know from representing them that an awful lot of these workers live outside Dublin, in Wicklow and Wexford, and commute to Dundrum. This is an additional burden on them and I hope they will be adequately compensated for that. I also hope the phased opening can be accelerated. As the Minister of State and I both know, that can only be done if additional staff are appointed and my understanding is that there has not been much luck in appointing those staff. I hope the 200 additional necessary staff can be recruited and that this facility can be up and running as quickly as possible. The place these people are leaving is not appropriate and we hope the place they are going will be much better.

See this speech in context