Building purchased in Cork by HSE in 2021 for use as mental health residence ‘will open this year’

THE HSE has confirmed that a building in Carrigaline that has remained vacant for three years, despite the HSE spending more than €1.3m on it, will open to residents this year.

East Cork Social Democrats councillor Liam Quaide wrote to the Public Accounts Committee to seek information about Glenwood House, which was purchased by the HSE for use as a mental health residence.

Mr Quaide said that parliamentary questions about the plans for the site had been ignored and that costs in other HSE properties related to the Glenwood House purchase “have been remarkable in scale and that appear to defy logic”.

He said: “The HSE’s business case for purchasing Glenwood House in 2021 was the replacement of a facility named Millfield House in Blackpool, which the HSE deemed ‘unfit for purpose’.

“What is remarkable about this case is that Millfield House has since reopened after a renovation and extension,” he added, explaining that residents had been temporarily being accommodated in another property, Garnish House.

The HSE were paying €43,400 monthly in combined rent and cleaning costs for Garnish House, with these accumulating to €1.84m by the time this arrangement ended. 

Planning 

According to records released to Mr Quaide and Dublin Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan under FOI, the HSE’s architect in Cork advised on November 19, 2020, that they would need to apply for planning retention to change the use of Glenwood House.

The former guesthouse was bought for €750,000 two months later, and Cork County Council issued a planning enforcement notice in May 2021 after a resident reported them for seeking to set up a mental health facility without applying for permission. The HSE made a planning application in March 2022. The ‘change of use’ was granted by Cork County Council but was appealed to An Bord Pleanála by a residents’ group before finally being granted permission in October 2023.

The HSE vacated Garnish House in mid-December 2023 and moved the residents back to Millfield House, which had been renovated.

Glenwood House remains vacant three and a half years later, and the HSE “has declined to provide reasons for the continued vacancy in responses to repeated parliamentary questions” from Ms Hourigan. She and Mr Quaide referred the question to Dr Andy Phillips, South-West regional executive officer, in April and have received no response.

Mr Quaide said that this investment occurred while the same team “were attempting to remove all investment from the East Cork mental health residential services through the proposed closure and non-replacement of Owenacurra, Midleton.”

'Significant value for money'

A HSE spokesperson told The Echo that planning permission was granted “less than one year ago”, and only once it was granted could they start implementing plans.

“While we awaited planning permission, there were other welcome and much-needed improvements to several residential mental health services in Cork, including Millfield House.

“The shortcomings in the stock of residential mental health services in the region are widely acknowledged, and we will take any opportunity available to us to improve these buildings.

“The investment in Glenwood House represents significant value for money,” as it will address these shortcomings, the spokesperson said.

A group has examined the factors involved, including the needs of residents, the type of care to be delivered, the regulations involved, and staffing.

The spokesperson concluded: “Once we have confirmed the people who would benefit most from the service at Glenwood House, we will engage with them and offer them this opportunity first before making any public announcement.

“We can confirm that Glenwood House will open for residential use for residents in HSE Mental Health Services in 2024, with appropriate staffing.”