Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Built in 1893, the Royal City of Dublin Hospital on Upper Baggot Street, more commonly known as Baggot Street hospital, was a main centre of care for a large part of the south-inner city for almost 100 years before the acute services were transferred to St. James's Hospital in 1986.

Despite its current state of disrepair, this building stretching 5,600 sq. m is still stunning to look at. It is an excellent example of Victorian architecture in the city. Its striking red-brick facade and high spires make it the most striking landmark in that particular area. The architecture is Flemish, as is that of several of the surrounding buildings, and the old nurses' residents is now the Dylan Hotel around the corner on Eastmoreland Place.

For a time, a number of community services were operated out of the hospital, including a primary care team, a stroke team, addiction services and a gay men's health service, but this has all ceased and the building is now rapidly falling into dereliction in one of the most prime sites in Dublin's south-inner city. Incredibly, Baggot Street hospital has been allowed to remain idle for years and local businesses and residents are now calling for it to be used to house people fleeing the war in eastern Europe. This building could have been repurposed ten to 15 years ago to house Dublin's homeless and maybe that is something that will happen in the future.

A local developer has said that her building company is happy to provide the labour for this project free of charge. It is estimated to cost €1 million and the labour would be free. That would be a significant saving to the State. That would repair and make fit for purpose the building for Ukrainian refugees. It is estimated the building could comfortably house 200 beds. The developer believes the ground and first floors could be delivered within two months of each other with each subsequent floor taking a month after that to deliver. Works would be done under the supervision of a fire consultant.

In recent years, the HSE has indicated it plans to sell part of the hospital for it to be converted into offices, a hotel or apartments and use the funds for a new primary care centre but nothing has ever happened. Today, the building continues to become more and more derelict.

I understand the local community is fully behind the project to make it a refugee centre and is willing to do whatever it can to get the hospital ready to welcome Ukrainian refugees.

It is in the city centre, where there are many employment opportunities. It has schools and is a perfect location to house Ukrainian refugees.

I am asking the Minister of State to intervene as a matter of urgency and get the HSE to show some vision in getting this hospital back into operation as a centre for Ukrainian refugees. With a bit of goodwill on all sides and with the support of the local community, this could be done in a relatively short period. There is much local community support for this initiative and it is a shame that the HSE seems to be totally uninterested in furthering the project. To be brutally honest, the HSE is being negligent and must be reined in. The hospital must be taken from its dead man's grip.

See this speech in context