A €5 million special care unit for five troubled young boys that opened last September has been closed by the Mid-Western Health Board due to a staffing crisis, it emerged yesterday.
The staffing crisis at Coovagh House in Limerick, has been brought on in part by the Health Board confirming yesterday that three members of staff are currently off duty with pay.
This arises from an ongoing Health Board investigation into an allegation made by a resident at the centre.
A Health Board spokesman confirmed yesterday that the matter has been reported to the gardaí.
The centre is one of only three special care units in the State and it has annual running costs of €1.8 million.
However, the Health Board confirmed yesterday that only three boys in total have been cared for at the centre since it opened seven months ago.
It is understood the low occupancy levels relate to the low number of referrals by the High Court and the low staffing levels at the centre.
In order to close the centre, the Health Board made an application in the High Court on Monday where the board was discharged from its duty of care to two young boys residing at the centre.
A Health Board spokesman said yesterday: "The two young persons who had been residing in the unit have been transferred to alternative care settings. The reason for the discharge was that insufficient staff were available for duty at the unit from Monday.
He said: "The board is endeavouring to secure adequate staffing so as to ensure that it can meet its obligations and provide safe care for young persons in Coovagh House." He said the centre would be re-opened as soon as possible.
The spokesman stressed the key factor behind the Health Board going to the High Court was the insufficient number of child care leaders to cover each shift at the centre.
It is not the first time staffing problems have plagued the operation of Coovagh House - the special care unit was completed in 2002, but remained unoccupied for over a year as the Health Board failed to secure the staff to allow the centre to open.
Thirty eight staff is the recommended number to operate the centre and in spite of eight separate recruitment drives in Ireland and overseas, the Health Board only managed to recruit 25 staff that allowed the centre to open.
In response to the closure of the unit yesterday, Ms Grace Kelly of the ISPCC said: "The key issue is that the children's needs must be catered for wherever they have been moved to."
Social worker and former editor of the Irish Social Worker, Mr Kieran McGrath, said yesterday: "There is a general scarcity of staff and there is no easy answer as to how the ongoing shortage can be addressed." The centre is the third and final Special Care Unit to be established by the State in response to a High Court order by Mr Justice Peter Kelly in February 2000, compelling the State to provide such care.
Mr Justice Kelly made his order after a succession of cases where non-offending children had to be detained in inappropriate centres due to the absence of any proper accommodation.
The centre at Coovagh caters for troubled boys aged between 11 and 17 from the Southern, South-Eastern and Mid-Western Health Board areas.
