Property purchase for mental health centre followed 'all appropriate processes', says HSE
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The HSE says that “all appropriate processes” were followed in relation to the purchase of a property for the provision of mental health services from the family of one of its most senior officials in the Cork/Kerry region.
The property in question, a former B&B named Glenwood House in Carrigaline, was bought by the HSE in January 2021 for €750,000.
The selling parties were the sister and brother-in-law of the current acting head of mental health services for the Cork/Kerry region, Kevin Morrison.
The provision of a new mental health centre in Carrigaline has come in for criticism due to the planned closure by the HSE of the Owenacurra facility in Midleton, a move that would leave the entirety of East Cork without a dedicated 24-hour community setting for such services.
Asked for comment regarding the news that the executive had purchased the new facility from a family member of one of its own employees, the HSE said that the transaction had been made “on the open market”.
“The property was advertised for sale by auctioneers in August 2020,” a spokesperson said.
When Glenwood House was first listed for sale it was at a ‘price to sell’ guide of €750,000, which is exactly the price at which it was eventually sold to the HSE.
The HSE said that prior to its purchase, a “property transaction application form providing the business case for the purchase of the property was submitted for Property Review Group approval in October 2020”, with approval to purchase the property then granted at the start of the following month.
“We are satisfied that all appropriate processes were followed in the purchase of the property,” the spokesperson said.
At least nine of the residents at the 20-bed Owenacurra facility have been offered accommodation at the new Carrigaline facility, situated more than 28km away.
However, it has now emerged that the new centre is not projected to open until the “latter end of quarter two 2022”, meaning the centre will have been owned by the HSE for at least 15 months before opening, per a parliamentary question response delivered to Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan.
That response details the estimated annual running cost of the new facility as being “in the region of” €750,000 per annum, a figure some way less than that of the existing Owenacurra facility.
“This cost is based on current projections and is unable to factor in patient-specific associated costs which may materialise once the facility becomes operational,” the parliamentary question response said.
"It's very difficult to understand how HSE management can justify the removal of all 24-hour staffed placements from East Cork while they are opening a new 24-hour staffed residence in Carrigaline,” said local Green Party councillor Liam Quaide.