Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to highlight the issue of the Owenacurra Centre in Midleton, which is home to 19 people who have severe and enduring mental health difficulties, some of whom have lived there for many years. It is the only long-stay adult mental health facility in east Cork and prior to the Covid-19 emergency, it also provided respite and day care.

On 28 June the residents received the shock announcement that the Owenacurra Centre was to be closed by 31 October due to concerns about the building. To get an understanding of this we have to understand that the town location of the Owenacurra Centre has allowed residents to integrate into the local community. The residents are known within the town of Midleton and are very much looked after, not just by the staff of the centre but by the local people they meet every day in the cafes, shops, the post office and the library. As well as the loss of their home, residents are facing the loss of many therapeutic relationships and staff all at the one time. Families are deeply concerned that much of the progress that their loved ones have made over many years will be undone by the closure of the centre and the loss of their support systems.

We had two meetings of the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Mental Health about the proposed closure in recent weeks. The first of these involved family members and it was very emotional. Yesterday, we heard from the HSE management. Family members of residents wrote to me this morning and said there were greatly concerned that there are plans to start moving residents from the Owenacurra Centre next week and that management have not ruled out St. Stephen's Hospital in Glanmire as an alternative placement option. St. Stephen's Hospital is an institutional ward setting where the Mental Health Commission has raised more serious concerns about the premises than the Owenacurra Centre. It is in the countryside and residents do not have the same access there to community supports. Dormitory-style accommodation is the norm there rather than single rooms.

HSE management also did not rule out St. Catherine’s ward for some of the Owenacurra residents. St. Catherine's ward is a facility near Cork city which also received a lower compliance rating from the Mental Health Commission than on the commission’s most recent visit to the Owenacurra centre. The Mental Health Commission said that the residents of St. Catherine’s were not allowed to access their rooms for 12 hours of the day. Yesterday’s Oireachtas committee raised many questions about the building reports on the Owenacurra Centre which HSE management were not able to answer. I am also concerned that there appears to be no clear service plan for people in east Cork with either respite or long-term placement needs into the future.

The four Cork East Deputies were united yesterday in calling for the closure of the Owenacurra Centre to be halted. According to HSE management no current safety risk is posed by the building issues.A strong message was sent from the meeting that plans should be made for either a renovation or a rebuild of the facility on the same site. Deputies had attended a large public meeting in Midleton about the proposed closure the previous evening, which Deputy Stanton described as the saddest meeting he had ever attended. I appeal to Minister of State, Deputy Butler, to intervene in this closure decision and provide a funding commitment to retain these essential services in their current location.