Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 119: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will review the decision to relocate the Central Mental Hospital from its site at Dundrum to the proposed new site at Thornton Hall taking into account the audit of properties by the Health Service Executive; her views on an alternative location, possibly in existing hospital grounds or property in the ownership of her Department or the HSE; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32288/08]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 128: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the funding allocated from budget 2008 for the proposed new Central Mental Hospital; the funding she proposes for the completion of the project in each of the years 2009, 2010 and 2011; the costs incurred to date on the project, including land acquisition costs, consultants, designers, architects; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31323/08]

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 119 and 128 together.

In February 2003, a Project Team to progress the re-development of the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) was established by the then Minister for Health and Children. The Project Team consisted of a broad range of stakeholders including the Department of Health and Children, the Health Boards, the National Development Finance Agency, the Irish Prison Service, the Clinical Director and other staff of the CMH, and was chaired by the then East Coast Area Health Board. In their report, 'Appraisal of Development and Procurement Options', the Project Team examined various options for the re-development of the hospital. With regard to location, several options were considered, from remaining on the current site in Dundrum to re-location to a site outside Dublin. The Team recommended that the CMH be relocated to a new purpose built facility in the greater Dublin area, as this was judged to be the most appropriate option for the delivery of patient care.

In these circumstances, and having regard to the lack of appropriate alternative sites in the greater Dublin area, the Government, in May 2006, approved the development of a new national forensic mental health facility at Thornton Hall, Co. Dublin. This decision is consistent with 'A Vision for Change' — the report of the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy, which recommends that the hospital should be replaced or remodelled to allow it to provide care and treatment in a modern, up-to-date humane setting and that capacity should be maximised.

The cost of developing the proposed new hospital will be met from the proceeds of the sale of the existing site in Dundrum, Co Dublin. The process for selecting and appointing a dedicated Design Team to develop a detailed design plan/brief for the project is underway; the HSE will not be in a position to define a specific capital investment plan until this detailed design brief is completed. No capital has been expended by the HSE on this project to date. The cost of acquiring the site at Thornton Hall for the new prison and hospital was €29,900,000. An additional 8.7 acres, at a cost of €1,305,000, was later acquired by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to provide a dedicated access road to the prison construction site.

While I am aware that concerns have now arisen regarding the proximity of the hospital to the prison, the position is that the redevelopment of the CMH will constitute a separate capital development project independent of the prison complex to replace Mountjoy, and will be owned and managed by the Health Service Executive. The new hospital will be built on its own campus and will retain its identity as a distinct therapeutic health facility with a separate entrance and address to the prison complex.