Oireachtas health committee urges minister to reverse plan to close Owenacurra centre

Closing Owenacurra will leave the entirety of the east Cork region without a dedicated 24-hour mental health service centre

Plans for the closure of the Owenacurra Centre in Midleton, which offers residential care for people with significant mental health challenges, was announced last June.

The evidence presented by the HSE for why the Owenacurra mental health facility should be closed has been “unconvincing”, the Oireachtas Health Committee has said.

In a letter to Minister of State Mary Butler, seen by the Irish Examiner, TDs and senators urged her to reverse the decision to close the centre “urgently”.

“This decision follows a public hearing on this issue in December 2021, as well as a site-visit to the Owenacurra Centre and St Stephen’s Hospital in Glanmire on 07 March 2022,” committee chair Sean Crowe TD wrote.

“The Committee is of the opinion that this closure should not proceed as it is in contravention of the Sharing the Vision policy which seeks to locate mental health services within communities.” 

Plans for the closure of the facility in Midleton, which offers residential care for people with significant mental health challenges, was announced last June.

The HSE in Cork/Kerry has said it is not possible to renovate the 1970s single-storey building or bring it up to standard without completely demolishing it first.

However, residents, their families, mental health experts, and politicians have campaigned for the centre to remain open, saying they recognise the excellence of the service and its contribution to the east Cork community.

Questions have also been raised about the alternative for these residents and the money spent by the HSE on other facilities such as a proposed centre in Carrigaline. 

No planning permission for Carrigaline facility

The HSE has spent €500,000 so far on upgrading Glenwood House in Carrigaline, for which it does not yet have planning permission.

In comparison, maintenance costs at Owenacurra over the last 10 years have been less than half a million euro, and proposed refurbishment plans that were eventually shelved were valued at €145,000.

Closing Owenacurra will leave the entirety of the east Cork region, a catchment area of 94,000 people, without a dedicated 24-hour mental health service centre.

Nine of the remaining residents of Owenacurra, many of whom have lived there for decades, have been offered replacement places at the Carrigaline facility, 30km away, when it eventually opens.

The letter to Minister Butler said: “The Committee has been presented by the HSE with evidence as to the rationale for closure which centred on concerns that refurbishment could not bring the building up to the required standard.

“However the Committee is of the opinion that evidence presented by the HSE has been unconvincing and it has concerns about the ad-hoc nature of the decision making in relation to capital infrastructure of mental health facilities.” 

Marchers taking part in the public demonstration to protest against the proposed closure of the Owenacurra Mental Health facility in Midleton in October. Picture: David Keane

Mr Crowe added that the committee wanted a response to this letter “as a matter of urgency”.

Committee member and Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan said there was a recognition that the closure of Owenacurra “is not in line with national mental health care provision”.

“Further to this, having reviewed the capital investment information we received and considering building reports on the facility I do not accept that the only option was to close the centre,” she said.

“The decision-making around estates and facilities in the Cork HSE is self evidently questionable as the same standards for building facilities seems to be implemented in an entirely subjective manner — it is a management strategy that exerts a terrible and damaging toll on the people who have made Owenacurra their home for many many years.”

The Department of Health has been contacted for a response.