HSE’s legal costs ‘would fund unit in Ireland for girl’

A High Court judge has said the costs of HSE legal proceedings aimed at keeping an 18-year-old with a severe personality disorder in a specialised unit in England against her wishes would fund a “purpose-built” unit for her in Ireland.

The costs to date of various proceedings in Ireland and England concerning the woman are estimated to exceed well over €1m. It also costs £400,000 a year to keep her in St Andrew’s unit in Northampton, where other Irish children and adults are regularly detained.

The woman has been detained for 19 months in St Andrew’s. Before that, from the age of 14, she was treated in various units in Ireland for about two years.