Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue after many attempts. I thank the Minister for Health for his presence. Undoubtedly, he will be aware of the impending decision of An Bord Pleanála regarding the national forensic mental hospital facility to be constructed in Portrane. There are grave concerns within the community about the routing of construction traffic, estimated at 30 trucks per day, in both directions through a small regional road and the village of Donabate. Approximately 10,000 people live between the two towns. The area's roads infrastructure is not up to the standard one would expect for such traffic movements.

I should preface my statements by saying that this project is very welcome among people in Donabate and Portrane, where there is overwhelming support for it. Of the 50 or so people with whom I have corresponded, only one questioned the decision to locate the facility in Portrane. As it so happened, that person was from Dundrum, which is from where the facility is being relocated.

The traffic issue will not go away. A decision will be made by 29 May. Although it may come sooner, I understand that there is a possibility that a decision may be delayed depending on whether An Bord Pleanála seeks additional information from the HSE or decides to assess its inspector's report. Traffic for the project will pass four schools of hundreds of children, a sports centre and a number of sporting clubs that are located around the site of St. Ita's Hospital in Portrane. The alternative is a temporary road, which forms part of the Donabate local area plan passed by Fingal County Council a number of years ago when I was a member of that authority. The temporary road project was to cost in the region of €1 million, but the offset cost that the HSE will have to meet to repair the local roads after and during the facility's construction will run into hundreds of thousands of euro, as we saw when the wastewater treatment facility was being constructed in Portrane in recent years and Fingal County Council had to reinstate roads that were completely destroyed by a far smaller number of heavy goods vehicles, HGVs, entering the site.

A hospital being built means large-scale precasts and units for lift shafts and the likes. These require long vehicles, which cannot pass one another on the bridge into Donabate village. For example, buses cannot pass one another on that bridge. Three roads meet there. The bridge was built when the rail line was created in the middle of the 1850s. Although there is new tarmac on the bridge, I am not convinced it can support two 50-tonne trucks at the same time.

While I do not expect the Minister to involve himself in the planning process, he has opportunities to speak with the HSE and to convey to it the importance of re-examining this issue on foot of An Bord Pleanála's imminent decision. I would be interested in hearing his comments on the matter.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Farrell for raising this issue for discussion. I am taking this debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, who is on Government business elsewhere.

The Government has provided €125 million new ring-fenced funding since 2012 to develop and modernise mental health services in line with "A Vision for Change". Along with the need to expand and enhance community-based services such as general adult teams, psychiatry of later life and child and adolescent mental health care, we have also prioritised key mental health infrastructural developments under the HSE capital programme, including the replacement of the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, CMH. The provision of new facilities to replace the CMH and to otherwise enhance forensic mental health facilities nationally is a Government priority.

This project is being delivered in two phases. Phase 1 comprises core project requirements at St. Ita's Hospital, Portrane, as follows: a 120-bed national forensic hospital to replace the CMH; a new ten-bed mental health intellectual disability forensic unit; and a new ten-bed child and adolescent mental health forensic unit. Under phase 2, it is planned to provide three 30-bed intensive care rehabilitation units, ICRUs, to be located at Portrane, Galway and Cork, which are envisaged upon completion of phase 1. A fourth ICRU is intended for Mullingar, involving the conversion of an existing facility.

The HSE capital programme allows for the completion of phase 1 of the project - Portrane - with design work to be progressed only on phase 2. Phase 1 was designated in September 2014 as a strategic infrastructural development and proceeded on this basis. As is the case with the design, planning and delivery of major health capital projects, every effort is made to address all relevant issues during the construction phase in line with traffic management or other best practice issues associated with such projects.

While the project is progressing satisfactorily overall, the HSE has been conscious of the need to address various local concerns and thereby minimise future risk, such as site access and agreements with residents. These have been the subject of detailed consultations, as reflected in the HSE's submission to An Bord Pleanála. A decision is expected from An Bord Pleanála towards the end of May.

Subject to receipt of planning permission, enabling works will commence on-site shortly thereafter. Construction of this significant health capital project is expected to be finalised in early 2018, with the facility scheduled to become operational later in the year following equipping completion.

I stress that any intervention in the statutory planning process on this matter would be entirely inappropriate, as the Deputy acknowledged. The HSE will, of course, take full account of any issues arising from the expected An Bord Pleanála decision. In the wider context, all efforts should continue to deliver without undue delay the modern national mental health facility now being advanced.

Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his response. I acknowledge the very significant capital infrastructural investment that is being made in my constituency. This particular piece of critical infrastructure has been welcomed by the local community, but the three-year construction phase will have a very detrimental effect on people in the area. My concern is that the price to be paid to advance the project may be too high, perhaps even so high as the loss of a life. This is a village with four schools, a community centre, sporting organisations and so on, all located on the narrow local roads in and around the Donabate area.

The Minister mentioned the consultation process. I participated in that process and can say with confidence that the HSE did not take on board the views of the community. This was particularly evident at one meeting I attended together with the local Minister. The point was made by residents on several occasions that it was impossible to justify routing construction traffic over the bridge I mentioned, which is more than 100 years old and is most likely not up to the standard required to accommodate such traffic. The HSE needs to re-evaluate how this project is to be delivered. It is somewhat ironic that it might end up with somebody having to be put in the care of the HSE as a result of the construction process itself.

I appreciate fully what the Minister is saying in terms of it not being appropriate to interfere in the planning process. However, if there is an opportunity for him to discuss the matter with the HSE, following the decision of An Bord Pleanála, I ask that he emphasise the need to take on board the grave concerns of residents and public representatives in the area.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I very much appreciate Deputy Farrell's point. I know Donabate well enough from my time on Fingal County Council alongside the Deputy some years ago. I understand people's concerns about heavy goods vehicles going through the village and the impact on the bridge during what is a very substantial construction period. I cannot interfere with the planning process that is before An Bord Pleanála but I have discussed the matter with the chief executive officer of Fingal County Council and certainly will discuss it further with the HSE, once a decision is made by An Bord Pleanála, with a view to ensuring the impact on residents in Donabate is minimised and any safety concerns allayed.