Breeda Moynihan-Cronin (Kerry South, Labour)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this important issue in the House. A number of years ago, the then Southern Health Board approved in principle the phased closure of St. Finan's psychiatric hospital, Killarney. The lands at St. Finan's Hospital, which are currently owned by the Health Service Executive are undoubtedly one of Killarney's best public assets. As I stated many times, when the hospital eventually closes it will be essential to retain this public asset for the public good and to keep it in public ownership.

A statement issued by the Taoiseach in December 2003 committed the Government to exploring the potential to use State-owned lands for housing purposes. The 55 acres at St. Finan's Hospital, Killarney, represent a prime opportunity for the Government to deliver on that commitment and it would be an extremely suitable site for local authority and social and affordable housing. As there are up to 500 households on Killarney's housing list at present, there is every need for a substantial housing programme to be put in place and the site at St. Finan's Hospital is a prime location.

Killarney's town clerk has stated that the lands at St. Finan's are ideal for housing. Killarney Town Council seeks 30 acres of the aforementioned lands for housing and facilities for community and voluntary organisations. Recently, a group called the St. Finan's Community Action Group made a number of positive suggestions regarding the use of the lands on the closure of the hospital. In addition to housing, a number of other organisations could benefit from the site. For example, for many years the south Kerry branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland has been seeking a suitable unit from the HSE for those with multiple sclerosis. This group has recently joined the Irish Wheelchair Association, the National Council for the Blind of Ireland and Kerry Care to campaign for a unit that would house their organisations and allow them to carry out their work in suitable premises. The Killarney rugby and judo clubs are also in need of a site and facilities for their members. The local branch of the Order of Malta is applying to the HSE for sufficient lands to allow them to house three ambulances and to provide training facilities for their staff members.

The Minister of State should note that a wide range of community and voluntary groups, in addition to Killarney Town Council, are in need of central sites and it seems logical to utilise fully a prime location like the lands at St. Finan's when they become available.

I have no difficulty with proposals for a health care centre on the site. While the HSE plans for the site will focus primarily on the provision of health services in the area, I firmly believe that consideration must also be given to a number of other possibilities for the site. I fully support the call from the St. Finan's Community Action Group that these lands should be retained for the use of social and affordable housing, as well as for community, voluntary and sporting organisations.

On the wider issue of State lands and health services, Members are aware the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, and the Progressive Democrats are hell bent on privatising the health services and selling State assets as speedily as possible, without thought on the consequences. I am certain they would not think twice about selling the lands at St. Finan's. This must not be allowed to happen. As previously stated, up to 500 households in Killarney are on the housing list, not to mention a wide range of community and voluntary organisations that are in need of facilities. This prime opportunity must not be allowed to pass. The Labour Party will campaign actively to ensure the site, which has an emotional attachment for many people in Killarney, will be put to the best use when the hospital is closed, to the benefit of all the people in Killarney.

Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)
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I thank Deputy Moynihan-Cronin for raising this matter on this evening's Adjournment.

Operational responsibility for the management and delivery of health and personal social services is assigned to the Health Service Executive, HSE, under the Health Act 2004. The HSE has informed my Department that St. Finan's Hospital campus, to which the Deputy referred, measures approximately 55 acres in total, with approximately 43 acres sited to the south of the ring road in Killarney and the remainder to its north.

At present, mental health services are provided from accommodation within the St. Finan's Hospital building. It is planned to transfer these services to new purpose-built accommodation over the next two years. The HSE's plans for the campus are to develop a range of health care facilities on the campus to provide modern accommodation to meet the present and future health needs of the population of Killarney and its surrounding areas. The plans include the development of a primary care centre and headquarters for HSE services provided to the population of Killarney and east Kerry.

The St. Finan's building itself, and some curtilage, that is, an area of land to make the building saleable, has been identified as surplus to requirements and will be disposed of when the building has been vacated. The HSE has advised that no actual date has been set for the sale of St Finan's building at this time. The HSE is in discussions with the local authority concerning the possibility of disposing of some of the site to facilitate affordable housing.

The report of the expert group on mental health policy, A Vision for Change, which was launched in January this year, outlines an exciting vision of the future for mental health services in Ireland and sets out a framework for action to achieve it in the next seven to ten years. The expert group found:

Mental hospitals have been the mainstay of mental health services in Ireland for many years. However, the type of person-centred, recovery-oriented care recommended ... cannot be provided in institutions of this size or environment.

On that basis, the group recommended that steps should be taken to bring about the closure of all the remaining psychiatric hospitals which are a legacy of a bygone age and to reinvest the resources released by these closures in the mental health services.

As the Deputy may be aware, the closure of the large mental hospitals and the move to modern units attached to general hospitals, together with the expansion of community services, has been Government policy since the publication in 1984 of the policy document, Planning for the Future. A number of the large psychiatric hospitals around the country have already been closed, including Our Lady's, Cork, St. Patrick's, Castlerea, St. Columba's, Sligo, St. Mary's, Castlebar, and Our Lady's, Ennis. The reorganisation of services which these closures entailed has resulted in the expansion of community facilities, new acute psychiatric units in some cases and, most importantly, an overall improvement in the delivery of services for the service users, their families and carers.

Most of the remaining stand-alone psychiatric hospitals in the country cater in the main for long-stay patients, many of whom are over 65 years of age. I understand this is also the case at St. Finan's, Killarney, in which the majority of patients are cared for in elderly care wards.

The HSE has indicated that it anticipates the closure of psychiatric hospitals and the reinvestment of the proceeds in modern, replacement facilities to take place on a phased basis. It has also emphasised that hospitals can only close when the clinical needs of the remaining patients have been addressed in more appropriate settings, such as additional community residences, day hospitals and day centres, together with a substantial increase in the number of well trained, fully staffed, community-based multidisciplinary community mental health teams.

The implementation of the recommendations will be a matter primarily for the HSE, which has established an implementation group to ensure the recommendations are realised in a timely and co-ordinated manner. I have established an independent monitoring group to monitor progress on the implementation of the mental health strategy, A Vision for Change. The Government has commenced implementation of this strategy and provided €26.2 million in funding in 2006 for this purpose. A further €25 million has been made available in 2007.

I am sure the Deputy will agree the Government is fully committed to the implementation of the national mental health strategy, A Vision for Change, as the basis for the future development of our mental health services.