Deputy Pearse Doherty has called for immediate progress in relation to the building of the new Cleary Centre in Donegal Town, which will accommodate and provide services for those with intellectual disabilities.
The Sinn Fein TD had previously raised the matter with the HSE and he recently raised the issue again asking for clarifications and updates in respect of the project.
Yesterday the Deputy received a response from the HSE stating that project funding has been ring-fenced.
Speaking today, Deputy Doherty said “This new centre has been mooted for some time and there is no doubt that such a service is badly needed in the South West of the county. I wrote to the HSE asking whether there had been funding allocated and what the associated time frames for the project currently were.
“In particular, I asked for an update of the progress made with the application for funding to progress the design of the new centre and for confirmation that funding had been ring fenced.
“On Monday, I received a response from the HSE stating that the approved capital budget for this project is currently €2.4m. This capital budget will fund all of the capital costs associated with the project, i.e. construction costs, design fees, equipment costs and other associated costs.
“The total capital allocation for this project in 2021 is €0.1m and expenditure in 2021 must be kept within this limit. HSE Estates confirmed that they will now progress procurement of the full design team to enable the project to progress this year.
“I will continue to follow up on this. Again, I am urging the HSE to expedite matters as much as possible so that immediate progress can be made on this project as soon as possible. We can’t have any further delay.