GOVERNMENT PLANS to relocate the Central Mental Hospital to a new prison site in north Co Dublin will be vastly more expensive than redeveloping the existing site in Dundrum, according to new research.
In a report to be published today, Jim Power, chief economist of Friends First, says the existing site could be redeveloped at no cost to the exchequer by selling off a parcel of land and using the funds to rebuild the Central Mental Hospital.
Mr Power's comments form part of a report, Patients not Prisoners, which has been produced by a coalition of mental health groups including the Central Mental Hospital's carers' group, the Irish Mental Health Coalition and Schizophrenia Ireland. Mr Power said selling 14 acres of the 34-acre site in Dundrum could raise up to €140 million, enough to build a new facility, which would cost in the region of €100 million.
A spokesman for the carers' group said these figures further underlined the fact that the move to Thornton Hall did not make economic or social sense.
"We have seen nothing from the Government to support the economic case for this decision. The HSE has yet to produce a legally required cost-benefit analysis of the options," he said. It is understood, however, that the Health Service Executive (HSE) is at an advanced stage in preparing a cost-benefit analysis, which is expected to be published later this year.
Also contained in the report is research by Dr Paul Mullen, clinical director of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health in Australia, who says colocation of the hospital with a prison is not in accordance with best therapeutic practice. The carers' group spokesman said: "Many patients have not committed a crime, and all patients have a right to be free from stigma and discrimination."
