Controversial plans to move the Central Mental Hospital to a super-prison complex have been scrapped, the Government revealed today.
Three years after the relocation proposals were first unveiled, Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children John Maloney said the Thornton Hall site in north Dublin was not big enough.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) had identified the need for extra forensic mental health units that could not be accommodated within the 20 acres set aside for the hospital, he said.
The proposed relocation, alongside a planned new super-prison to replace Mountjoy jail at the €30 million site, was strongly opposed by families of patients and mental health support organisations.
"A number of difficulties have now emerged with the Thornton Hall site," said Mr Maloney.
The junior minister said the extra units could not operate as stand-alone facilities and it would be too costly to locate them at other sites.
The HSE would be consulting all stakeholders now as to a possible alternative site although a replacement hospital at the existing location in Dundrum had been ruled out, he said.
Fine Gael health spokesman James Reilly branded the move a welcome Government U-turn.
"This was widely believed to be a retrograde step which would impede rehabilitation, increase stigmatisation and isolate patients from their families," he said.
Mr Reilly called for confirmation about reports the Government had already identified a new preferred site St Ita's in Portrane, north Dublin.
Labour Party spokeswoman on health Jan O'Sullivan said she welcomed the admission that the relocation had been abandoned but called for the Government to clarify its intentions regarding the hospital.
"The current facility in Dundrum is operating at breaking point and beyond, and has effectively stopped accepting new patients," she said.
"We need a plan of action from the Government, and we need assurances that the Minister and the Department of Health will engage with all the stakeholders before a decision is made on where the hospital will now be located."
Last week, Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said the planned new super-prison at Thornton Hall would proceed but without "all the bells and whistles" included in the original plan.
Then Justice Minister Michael McDowell came under fierce criticism in 2005 when the Government bought the site for €29.9 million, reputedly eight times higher than the market rate at the time.
Last year, it emerged that almost €11 million has already been spent preparing the site for construction.
PA