House for troubled teens may finally open
Repeated recruitment campaigns for key staff to work at Coovagh House have been frustrated through lack of interests by prospective applicants.
A spokesman for the HSE said last night: “We are currently completing the recruitment process in respect of Coovagh House and we hope to be in a position to recommence residential services there by the end of April.”
Coovagh House built at a cost of €5 million opened for a brief period in 2003 but had to close again due to ongoing staffing difficulties.
The house will cater for five troubled youths aged between 11 and 17.
It was one of three such centres built on foot of a High Court ruling by Mr Justice Peter Kelly in response to the lack of such facilities for disturbed teenagers around the country.
The deadline for the re-opening of Coovagh House has been repeatedly put back due to difficulties in trying to recruit specialists staff.
To date the HSE has spend up to €350,000 in the search for staff having carried out recruitment campaigns in this country and abroad.
One source said: “The reality is that many people working in the field are reluctant to work in these kind of facilities due to the volatile temperament of the teenagers that are cared for.”
