Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his question and for the constructive way he has phrased it. As he and I are aware, there are 19 residents living in the Owenacurra Centre and it is their home. I will not go over the history of it but in June 2021, the HSE notified the Department of its decision to close the Owenacurra Centre. The current building is not fit for purpose and cannot be brought to the standard required. The works being undertaken in the facility currently are to ensure that it is safe for the residents who live there. The Deputy will be aware, for example, that the kitchen was removed because it was a fire hazard and that food was being brought in from another facility.

The HSE's focus is on the impact of this closure on residents and their families in order that the will and preference of each individual will be heard like the Deputy said. Since the HSE informed staff and residents of this decision in June, it has been consulting with them on an ongoing basis and this consultation is continuing. The multidisciplinary team has met with all of the residents and their families where the person wishes to have family members involved, which is not always the case, and where the family members wish to attend meetings, which also is not always the case, to discuss their options. Unfortunately, I have to point that out. The will and preference of each resident is core to this process. I spoke to the area lead for mental health, Mr. Kevin Morrison, today and the relocation process is progressing. As of today, all the residents have had their needs assessed so that they can be appropriately placed in accordance with their assessed needs. The latest position is that of the 19 residents in Owenacurra, four have already transferred.

Two people have moved to nursing homes, one person has transitioned to a high support hostel, and another individual required admission to acute care but has a place secured with St. Catherine's continuing care centre. It is planned that a further two people will be moved to alternative placements this week, one to a nursing home and another to St. Stephen's hospital. These residents are being moved to a nursing home because their physical health challenges now outweigh their mental health challenges.

Residents will not be moved until appropriate placements have been found for each person based on their individual assessed needs, will and preference. I can give Deputy Stanton a guarantee on that. The Mental Health Commission is being informed of every single one of these moves and has asked to be kept apprised of what is happening. The priority of the Government and the HSE is the welfare of the remaining residents in the centre and that was always my concern too. While some people may require ongoing continuing care, others will be facilitated to live in lower support settings, based on their assessed needs. A residential-type setting for a number of residents is being sought to provide a supported mode of living locally. By this, I mean the community houses I spoke about last week. There are approximately 1,200 community houses throughout the country which provide ongoing, continuing care. Typically four or five people would live in these homes and they would be supported within the community. A possible location has also been identified to restore the day service in the town and negotiations are under way on its use. Deputy Stanton will appreciate that this is commercially sensitive but HSE Estates is involved and progress is being made. It is very important that the day care centre opens up as soon as possible.

Importantly, the Owenacurra site will be used in the future to build supported living accommodation for mental health service users and discussions have commenced with the local authority to explore options. These discussions are at an early stage and the HSE will proceed with developing proposals to this end over the coming months.

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