Unused health centre incurs €5m costs

Residents of Ballymun in Dublin have invited local and national politicians to debate the failure of health authorities to open the new €56 million Ballymun Health Centre.

The health centre, which was built for the Northern Area Health Board, requires a fit-out costing about €9 million to be sanctioned by the Department of Health.

In the absence of that sanction the centre has remained closed since it was built 18 months ago, with on-going property costs now amounting to €5.25 million.

Patients attending the existing, dilapidated health centre in Ballymun have been left without access to medical services on a number of occasions recently due to power failure and the closure of the facility on health and safety grounds.

The debate, which is scheduled for the Ballymun Axis Centre on June 1st, follows the raising of a petition of more than 5,000 signatures in protest at the medical facilities in the area.

Among those invited to the debate are spokespeople from the main political parties: the Minister for Health, Mr Martin; the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy; local TD and Minister of State for Housing, Mr Noel Ahern; the Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny; and the leader of the Labour party, Mr Pat Rabbitte.

The debate is being organised by the Ballymun Neighbourhood Council which has campaigned for more than a year for the new health centre to be opened.

Designed as a "centre of excellence" for medical services, the new health centre is an integral part of the Ballymun regeneration scheme, and was to have served a population of more than 100,000 across north county Dublin.

Now locals fear the Department of Health is waiting until next year's budget to sanction the fit-out costs, and have taken the opportunity to hold a public debate in advance of the June 11th elections.

According to the neighbourhood council, residents feel let down by the present Government, in particular the Minister for Health and Children.

The petition points out that the health board has been anchor tenant at the civic offices in Ballymun for 18 months and in that time "not one single patient has been seen because the health board claims they do not have adequate funding to furnish and equip the building".