Closed €5m youth centre still a financial burden

THE €5 million centre built in Limerick four years ago to accommodate disturbed youths is still a huge financial burden on the Health Service Executive (HSE) Mid West, even though it remains shut.

Coovagh House cost €1.5m in wages in 2004, although it closed in April of that year. A further €138,000 was spent in 2004 to provide security at the closed down unit.

Fine Gael Spokesman on Children’s Affairs Dan Neville has been informed that the wages bill arises from staff who worked at Coovagh House before it closed and who were deployed elsewhere in the health service.

Coovagh House was build in the grounds of St Josephs Psychiatric hospital in Mulrgave Street.

Mr Neville said last night: “It seems the wages paid to former staff at Coovagh house are still accounted to Coovagh although there is nobody working there. I want to know what vacancies arose to redeploy those former Coovagh staff.

“There are huge security costs now being built up because of a very expensive unit which lies idle.”

The HSE has spent more than €250,000 in trying to recruit professional personnel in Canada, Europe and this country for Coovagh, but to no avail.

Only three people have accepted job offers at Coovagh, but it needs a staff complement of 33, even though it would only care for five young people.

Coovagh House was one of three centres opened in 2001 on foot of a High Court order by Mr Justice Peter Kelly in response to there being no adequate place for disturbed teenagers in this country.

Earlier this year, the HSE said it was hopeful to have Coovagh opened last month.

But following a huge recruitment campaign 30 people were offered contracts, but to date only two were available to work.

Mr Neville said and it was intolerable that juveniles were being held in jail and not in a special unit like Coovagh. He said: “This is akin to abuse.”

Consultant psychiatrist and former Labout TD, Dr Moosajee Bhamjee has stated the HSE should consider converting Coovagh House into a child psychiatric unit.

He said: “Currently there are no in-patient facilities for child psychiatric patients in the mid-west and Coovagh House would be a reasonable place.”

He said there would no problem in recruiting psychiatrists for such a unit.