Decisions about care facilities for young people are being taken on the basis of administrative concerns rather than out of concern for the patients, the Dáil has been told.
Ms Róisín Shortall (Labour, Dublin North West) expressed alarm about the imminent closure of the City Lodge Care Facility, and rejected as "rubbish" claims that suitable alternative places had been found for all the residents.
However, the Minister of State for Health, Mr Ivor Callely, gave a guarantee about new facilities for teenagers in the City Lodge and that "nothing will happen until they are satisfactorily transferred to their new accommodation".
Ms Shortall claimed that "purely for administrative reasons" the facility was being closed, and she accused the health boards of "seriously reneging on their statutory responsibility" by standing over a regime that took decisions about the care of young people on an ad hoc basis, and for administrative reasons rather than on what was required for residents.
Referring to the particular case of a 17-year-old boy who had been in care for most of his life, she said the alternative for him to City Lodge was the caretaker's hostel, where individuals had to sign in each night before 8.30 p.m., and had to leave the following morning.
She said the teenager, whose case had been before the courts a number of times, was doing well in City Lodge, where he was in a relatively secure environment."It is the habit of health boards to really try and delay the whole process until that person gets close to 18 years, at which point they wash their hands of all responsibility."
The Minister said the South Western Area Health Board had informed him that the City Lodge facility was established on an interim basis in the context of development of services for young people who were "out of home". It was never envisaged that it would operate on a longer-term basis. There were currently three young people accommodated. He said he had been assured that alternative residential care had been made available.
