Objection could delay dialysis unit for ‘up to a year’

A PLANNING objection by a Cork solicitor and his wife could delay a kidney dialysis unit in Limerick by up to a year, the company behind the development said yesterday.

A company named Hookford Ltd, whose directors are Mallow solicitor Philip Comyn — the deputy coroner for Cork city — and his wife, Gwynne, lodged an objection to the opening of a dialysis unit at the Riverside Retail Park, Dock Road, on April 23.

Fresenius Medical Care Ltd, the world leaders in renal dialysis, won a multi-million euro contract from the HSE to provide a unit in Limerick to cater for up to 60 patients. At present about 20 patients from the Limerick area have to travel to Galway for dialysis three times a week, as there is no more capacity at the dialysis unit at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital.

A spokesman for Fresenius Ltd said yesterday they had hoped to have the unit open by the end of the year, but the objection by the Comyns, he said, could delay the project by up to a year if it ends up with An Bord Pleanála.

One of the patients having to travel three times a week for dialysis in Galway is Goretti Neville, wife of Limerick West Fine Gael TD Dan Neville.

Ms Neville said: “I only found out about this objection last week and I was very upset to hear someone has a problem with it.”

In their objection, to which they are entitled, the Comyns claim the site with retail units is not designated as a site suitable for medical facilities. They state facilities such as that proposed are best on a co-located healthcare campus or on an individual dedicated site. They also cite inadequate sewerage facilities on the site.

Contacted yesterday, Philip Comyn of the law firm O’Connor, Dudley’s & Comyn, West End, Mallow, said: “I have no comment to make at the moment.”

The Irish Kidney Association has expressed its concern at a further delay in providing the additional dialysis facilities in Limerick due to the hardship to people having to travel to Galway.

Pat O’Brien, secretary of the Limerick branch of the IKA, said the travel is not only inconvenient but detrimental to the health of up to 20 dialysis patients.

Mr O’Brien said: “These people don’t just go straight to Galway: a bus comes to collect them at various different locations. So it takes about three hours to get to Galway, followed by a further four hours of dialysis and then three hours home. Dialysis patients need to eat nutritious meals, but how can you expect a person to cook a meal in the evening if they’re on the go for 10 hours a day to get a treatment that keeps them alive.”

A spokesman for Fresenius Medical Care said they have taken out a lease on a unit at the Riverside Retail Park.

He said: “We would have expected to have it open by the end of this year, but for this planning objection on which a decision is due from the county council on May 14.

He said if the objectors were to pursue their objection to An Bord Pleanála the project would be put back by up to a year. “We would expect to employ up to 15 specialist nurses to operate two shifts on a six-day-a-week basis and the medical management of the patients would reside with the HSE.”