‘All options’ being looked at to replace Clogher House

“All options are being explored” say the HSE on the delivery of a new Day Activation Centre for adults with disabilities, after Minister for Disabilities Anne Rabbitte announced substantial investment of €4.6 million towards replacing the existing Clogher House facility at Rathcorrick.

It’s part of a wider €12m pledge to also provide a new Day Service in Cootehill to replace Drumlin House, and a new regional children’s respite service in Monaghan.

For close to a decade the HSE, Cavan Monaghan Disability Services faced down repeated calls by concerned parents and local politicians to find suitable alternative accommodation to the Clogher House, which was earmarked for decommissioning as far back as 2018 but continued to be used.

It was previously hoped a new building, constructed on a greenfield site by the Cross Border Community Housing Association Limited, would be developed and leased back to the HSE, but an agreement was never reached.

Now with an eight figure sum ring-fenced, obtained following approval from the National HSE Capital and Property Steering Group, work is underway to deliver a new facility “either through a capital build or by lease agreement”.

“Presently all options are being explored to find a suitable solution,” a HSE spokesperson confirmed to the Celt.

Concerns over the current suitability of Clogher House relate to capacity. The number of soon-to-be young adults with severe/profound disabilities is set to increase over the next five years and, with that, a demand for placements and additional supports in the community setting.

This follows a review carried out in 2022, and the funding announcement comes soon after talks between Minister Rabbitte and increasingly frustrated parents of children with disabilities.

Funding of €7.5 million, meanwhile, has been approved to develop a new Day Service to replace the existing Drumlin House in Cootehill, again where concerns have been raised over capacity.

As well as that, HSE Estates, buoyed by a €3.1 million allocation, are working on plans to develop a new five-bedroom respite service in Monaghan, which will be a facility catering specifically to children from Cavan and Monaghan.

While this is being built, additional funding has been sanctioned for an interim respite service in Monaghan, set to open by October 1, 2024. Already the Disability Services Manager Cavan Monaghan has requested an “expression of interest from service providers”.

There is further commitment has to working with the HSE and local providers to support the expansion of services delivered through Steadfast House and Errigal Truagh.

Under the proposed plan to develop age specific respite services in the region, Cootehill’s Annalee View centre, which currently provides children’s respite every second week, will become an adult-only facility.

The changes follow the HSE drafting a list of urgent needs for respite services across this healthcare area (CHO1) which takes in counties Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan.

There are, at present almost 60 people waiting for respite services in Cavan and Monaghan, and 36 currently in receipt.

Steadfast House in Monaghan, an adult service, provides 840 bed nights, as well as day services.

One option open to the HSE with regard to its children’s respite plan is to repurpose an existing property.

“Once purchased, HSE Estates North East will then complete a significant capital project to extend and refurbish the property to deliver a five-bedroom residential respite facility.”

They add that the new respite centre will “need to meet the required standards” as it will be assessed by the Health and Quality Authority (HIQA).

The HSE spokesperson says the proposed interim facility will operate under an “initial contract for two years until the HSE centre is established”.

With reference to Annalee in Cootehill, they added: “Currently the Disability Services Manager Cavan Monaghan is submitting a capital funding proposal for a dedicated adult residential Respite Centre in County Cavan. This funding proposal will be submitted to National Estates at the end of quarter two for their review.”

The recent funding allocations were welcomed locally.

Cavan-Monaghan Fianna Fáil TD Brendan Smith said, addressing Minister Rabbittee in the Dáil, said that respite services are “totally inadequate and parents are at their wits’ end”.

Party colleague Niamh Smyth: “One of the biggest challenges for parents of children with disabilities across Cavan and Monaghan is the lack of respite services and I was delighted to welcome Minister Anne Rabbitte to Monaghan who met with parents of children who need those services, service providers and HSE officials.”