Staff demand publication of Cork addiction facility probe

Staff at Cara Lodge have called for the publication of a HSE investigation into the company running the facility.

Staff at a Cork addiction treatment facility for teenagers which is due to close have called for the publication of a HSE investigation into the company running the facility.

A delegation of staff from the Cara Lodge facility in Enniskeane, West Cork, met with local Independent TD Michael Collins yesterday to voice their anger at how they had been treated and the manner in which the facility has been run in recent years.

At least 25 jobs are to go with the closure. 

The facility has been operating for nearly 20 years and was one of only a handful in the State to provide residential treatment to teenagers experiencing addiction problems. 

It was run by the Matt Talbot Adolescent Service (MTAS), which has been mired in controversy in recent years and funded largely by the HSE.

“The life has been drained out of that place gradually,” Mr Collins said. “The staff were given false hope that a new model of service would be provided from there but then they were just told during the week that it would close.

"A report into the centre was done and I and the staff want to know why that hasn’t been published.

They can’t turn around now and say that people today aren’t having the same problems. 

In a statement issued by the HSE and the MTAS to the Irish Examiner last week, it was noted that referrals to the centre had “decreased by over 50% between 2015 and 2019. 

"Any reduction in the referrals of children to residential services is to be welcomed,” the statement said.

However, according to separate sources working in the area, the fall-off in referrals had nothing to do with demand but was a result of reluctance to refer to MTAS due to controversies around the charity.

At least four protected disclosures from staff and former staff had been submitted to the HSE, alleging mismanagement in various ways. 

An investigation undertaken by the HSE into these and other aspects of the running of the charity was due to be published last November but will not now be published in any form.