Probe into mental health centre delay in East Cork

The long delay to build a replacement residential mental health centre to Owenacurra in Midleton has been queried by a councillor for the region.

Dr Andy Philips, regional executive officer of HSE South West (Cork and Kerry), told Social Democrats councillor Liam Quaide that there is no timeline yet for the project’s completion.

Dr Phillips explained: “The delay in commencing the new build was primarily caused by the fact that the facility had to be redesigned due to the major flooding event which occurred in Midleton in October 2023.

“The HSE is working through the updated design process so as to deliver the 10-bed, purpose-built facility.

“These works include the complete demolition and reconstruction of the new facility to include flood protection elements such as raised floor levels.

“This unit will be put in place to meet the local needs of the community and this will complement the work of the local community multi-disciplinary mental health team. Planning permission has been granted, subject to a number of conditions which Cork Mental Health Services is responding to.

“The specific timeline will be determined once contractors are engaged, and we will inform you of that detail once known.”

In response, Mr Quaide, who is a general election candidate for East Cork, reiterated that “there has been no interim residential service provision in East Cork since June 2021 for people requiring this level of support, aside from the six residents of the Owenacurra Centre who have been accommodated locally”.

“The need for residential support among the local population of service users is not confined to those residents, yet there has been no capacity created locally by the HSE since,” he said.

Given the lack of interim residential provision following the centre’s closure, Mr Quaide said: “The new build project on the site of the previous service should be urgently pursued.”

He criticised the statement “that the long delay in the commencement of the new build is due to the proposed facility having to be redesigned following the major flood event of October 2023,” saying “this redesign received planning approval in February 2024”.

“Therefore it’s not clear how the redesign could relate to a prolonged delay in the commencement of this project,” he said.

“The existing facility has been a vacant building for almost a year in the centre of the town and had been operating at less than one third of its capacity leading up to the flood.”

Cork Kerry Community Healthcare told The Echo: “We expect to appoint a contractor by the end of this year, and at that point a more detailed timeline will be determined.”