New national mental hospital a 'philosophical' change in treatment 

The National Forensic Mental Hospital (pictured) in Portrane in north county Dublin will replace the previous Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum which was over 170 years old. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

The opening of the new €200m National Forensic Mental Hospital has been heralded as a "philosophical" change in the approach to mental health treatment in Ireland.

Based in Portrane in north county Dublin, the new facility will replace the previous Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum which was over 170 years old. The 170-bed centre has a designated female-only unit, as well as a forensic Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) unit.

HSE interim CEO Stephen Mulvaney said the new facility was “on par with any forensic mental health facility” and had been a “complex project” first mooted by Taoiseach Micheál Martin when he was Minister for Health some 20 years ago.

Numerous TDs and Senators were in attendance for the official opening of the new facility including health ministers Stephen Donnelly, Mary Butler and Frank Feighan. Mr Donnelly described the new hospital as the “biggest health capital project outside the acute hospital system in the history of the State”.

He said an increase in funding for running costs from €30m to €50m would also make a “huge difference”. The minister said that it would embody a “new, modern, more compassionate philosophy” when it comes to mental health.

“Vulnerable people with mental health challenges are overrepresented in our criminal justice system,” he said. “We’ve a responsibility to ensure as many people as possible who have such challenges are diverted away from the justice system.” 

Mr Donnelly said this issue must be approached in the same way other healthcare challenges are, with patients at the centre. He said too many people in prison are there because of addiction issues and mental health issues, and mental healthcare supports such as those available here should be utilised to support vulnerable persons.

Also in attendance was junior justice minister, James Browne, who said that two-thirds of prisoners have a mental health or addiction difficulty. 

He said:

Prison is not the appropriate setting for people with mental health illnesses.

The National Forensic Mental Health Service at Portrane will work with local mental health services in every part of the country and perform outreach to prisons and the courts via the Prison In-Reach and Court Liaison Service for those with high-level mental health difficulties.

The Department of Health said the new hospital would ensure the highest standard of care and that patients are living in accommodation appropriate to their needs.

It would also reduce the operating costs of the service pro rata and reduce costs to the HSE for placement of patients in the UK, prisons and other HSE services.

Ms Butler, who it emerged this week had received the all-clear following cancer surgery, hailed the opening of the new facility and said it was “one of those weeks I can’t take a smile off my face”. Commenting on the new dedicated forensic CAMHS unit, she added: “We’ve never had it before and we need it.”