Mental Health Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-22
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Matt Carthy (SF), Cavan-Monaghan

I am a bit taken aback, to be quite honest. The Government and the HSE have given a commitment that there will be a new acute mental health unit - a psychiatric unit - on the grounds of Cavan hospital. Previously, a date of 2030 had been provided. I hoped that the Minister of State would be able to announce today that the preliminary processes had been advanced so that we could reach that. The Minister of State will know that previous Mental Health Commission reports in respect of this unit have been quite damning. That is no reflection on the staff within the ward who I am sure do a huge amount of work. However, this is a unit that is on the lower ground floor, which says all we need to know, essentially, about how mental health has been treated up to this point. I ask the Minister of State to ensure that greater clarity is given. Is this a priority or not? Can we be given an assurance that this unit will be delivered quickly?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:32+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-22