HSE confirm 19 of its properties in Mayo remain vacant

A MAYO councillor has described as unacceptable the number of properties in the ownership of the HSE which are vacant in a housing emergency.

The HSE revealed at a meeting of the HSE Regional Health Forum West that in Mayo they have 19 vacant properties with four deemed surplus to requirements, 13 under review, one with a leasehold surrender and one under refurbishment.

The 13 under review are at the Áras Attracta campus in Swinford which include eleven bungalows as well as the pool/gym and kitchen/canteen.

In a reply to Cllr Michael Kilcoyne, the HSE stated they have been closed since 2010 but later clarified that the majority were in use up until post 2018.

However, Cllr Kilcoyne criticised the HSE for allowing their property to remain vacant while there are 200 people in emergency accommodation in Mayo.

“I really think there needs to be an explanation as to how this has happened particularly from the people in the estates section of the HSE.

“Surely it is not acceptable to have property vacant for 15 years when every second night we see the Minister and the Taoiseach talk about sorting out the housing issue,” he said at the meeting.

Niall Calleary, HSE Assistant National Director, Capital and Estates explained that the Áras Attracta campus was part of the ‘decongregation programme’ to provide residential accommodation from the institutional campus into the community and the campus is currently part of a health planning study to determine what will happen to it.

Integrated approach

“We will look at that overall in an integrated approach and see what is the best use of the property we have. A lot of the property will need extensions and upgrade works carried out so we will also from a value for money perspective as well.

“We hope to be in a position to have that study concluded and they we will be in a better position to see what we can dispose of and what we will be retaining,” he said.

If the property is to be disposed of he said it will be offered to the land development agency as the initial step and if there are no expressions of interest it is offered to other state bodies and then put on the open market.

Tony Canavan, Regional Executive Officer, West and North West, HSE also clarified that while some of the property was vacated in 2010, the majority was occupied up to 2018.

“While there were some vacant properties on the campus, they were vacant on a campus which was already providing services. It wouldn't have been possible to dispose of an individual property in the middle of a service that was being provided,” he said.

Mary Warde, the Integrated Health Area Manager for Mayo, also pointed out that other services for children's disability networks and primary care services are continuously being delivered from the campus at Aras Attracta.

Scandal

Cllr Kilcoyne said regardless of when the bungalows became vacant they should not be allowed to remain vacant for so long.

“The state is paying out millions in homeless accommodation and yet the same state paid for the building at Áras Attracta and several other buildings on the list and are left there idle. We pay money to people in the private sector to provide emergency accommodation out of the same purse. This is a scandal.

“I am not blaming the HSE but I am blaming the department and people like the Controller and Auditor General that should be aware of this and done nothing about it,” he said.

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