HSE unit spent over €12,000 before Lynch visit

MORE than €12,000 was spent sprucing up a HSE residential unit for people with intellectual disabilities in the days leading up to a ministerial visit.

Grove House, located on the grounds of St Mary’s orthopedic hospital in Cork, is a closed unit for 30 people who have an intellectual disability, autism or challenging behaviour.

The unit has long been deemed an inappropriate living environment and has been criticised for being an old-style institution operating a medical model.