Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children John Moloney will today meet the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children to discuss the proposed relocation of the Central Mental Hospital to Thornton Hall.
The proposal to move the hospital, situated in Dundrum, Co Dublin, to the north Co Dublin greenfield site is opposed by a number of health and patients groups, including the Irish Mental Health Coalition (IMHC) and the Central Mental Hospital Carers' Group (CMHCC).
In April the CMHCC, the IMHC and Schizophrenia Ireland jointly published Patients Not Prisoners, setting out the expert medical and economic arguments against the proposed relocation.
The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children has examined the decision to relocate the Central Mental Hospital through a series of meetings over the summer. Committee members have also visited the hospital and the proposed relocation site at Thornton Hall.
On July 29th, the IMHC presented its arguments against the move to the committee, which has also heard from the Carers' Group and the Mental Health Commission.
John Saunders, chairman of the IMHC, said economist Jim Power had presented a viable alternative, which involved selling part of the Central Mental Hospital's current site at Dundrum to fund the development of a new facility.
The coalition brings together a range of medical professionals, trade unions, human rights organisations and disability groups.
