Watchdog tells HSE to shut ‘unsafe’ care unit

THE controversial Ballydowd residential care facility for children should be closed according to an inspections watchdog which said conditions there had worsened since a HSE U-turn on an initial plan to shut it down last year.

The centre, located in Co Dublin, was due to close after the HSE announced last November that it would no longer take in children requiring special care, following a critical report by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).

The centre had also been at the centre of a controversial incident in which a water hose was turned on a child staying at the facility by a member of staff.