Commission reports 'should not be weaponised' to close Owenacurra facility, says TD

“The Mental Health Commission (MHC) is completely within their rights to issue reports, but they can’t then take their hands off the wheel as to how those reports are supposed to be used,” Neasa Hourigan told the Irish Examiner. File picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos

A member of the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee has accused the Mental Health Commission of allowing itself to be “weaponised” to secure the closure of the Owenacurra mental health facility in East Cork.

Government TD Neasa Hourigan, who is also a member of the Oireachtas Health Committee, said the Mental Health Commission has allowed the HSE to cite its reports regarding the poor quality of the structure of Owenacurra as a reason to close the centre, despite the fact that the Commission has made similarly adverse findings regarding other facilities in Co. Cork.

The commission has in recent times stated that certain wards at both St Stephen’s and St Finbarr’s Hospitals present significant concerns in terms of their governance and non-compliance with structural risk protocols. Both of those facilities have, however, been suggested as possible destinations for the vulnerable residents of Owenacurra.

“The Mental Health Commission (MHC) is completely within their rights to issue reports, but they can’t then take their hands off the wheel as to how those reports are supposed to be used,” Ms Hourigan told the Irish Examiner.

“Their reports should be used as a basis to improve the situations in facilities, not that they should be weaponised to close building stock,” she said.

“I think the MHC has to start taking responsibility for how their reports are being used. Once a report is out and the HSE is using it in this fashion, it’s very difficult for us to set it aside. But the report doesn’t say Owenacurra should be closed, it says there are problems with the structure.”

“If the HSE is going to say Owenacurra has to be closed because of that report, then the MHC has to engage, and it hasn’t particularly been doing so,” Ms Hourigan added.

The MHC declined to comment when approached for a response to Ms Hourigan’s statements.

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Last September, the Owenacurra families wrote to the chair of the MHC John Hillery to accuse the Commission of “side-stepping... their responsibility for their own reports and how they can be misused”.

The letter further questioned Mr Farrelly’s decision to refuse to appear before two Oireachtas committee hearings regarding Owenacurra for fear of undermining the MHC’s enforcement powers, when he then “contradicted that rationale by appearing on RTE Drivetime to discuss the closure in September 2021".

Owenacurra was first marked for closure by the HSE in June of 2021, with a projected end date of October 31 of the same year. However, the centre has never closed amid staunch opposition from locals and the families of the centre’s 19 residents.

“(It) became clear that the work would not be enough to bring the building to the standard quite rightly required by the Mental Health Commission,” Kevin Morrison, the acting head of Cork Kerry mental health services, told families in June 2021.

“We understand the serious concerns raised by the Commission, and we also agree that the building is not fit for purpose,” he said.