€750,000 spent on special care centre for troubled teens

The HSE yesterday confirmed that it has spent €750,000 on works on a special care centre for troubled teens which will now not re-open until late May, over five months later that originally planned.

Last June, the HSE closed Coovagh House in Limerick for upgrade works to take place. The works were undertaken “to increase safety in the unit, to increase natural daylight, and to improve the general ambiance.”

Coovagh House is one of three special care units for teenagers operated by the HSE, and documents show that in the first six months of last year, the State spent €1.3m caring for three teenagers at the special care unit, over €440,000 per teen and €250,000 over budget for the period.