The Minister of State at the Department of Health, Tim O'Malley, has said he believes that land at some of the country's psychiatric hospitals could be sold within a year to generate much needed funding for the mental health sector.
The minister said more than 200 acres of land from 14 mental hospitals has been identified which will raise several hundred million euro when sold.
Mr O'Malley said that some of this land could be sold within 12 months, and that all monies generated by the sale of lands will be retained to help fund Ireland's mental health service.
The money will be used to establish more community-based facilities as well as improving what the minister called ‘appalling conditions’ at many existing psychiatric hospitals.
The Mental Health Association gave a general welcome to the news, but said it needed to be made clear if the monies generated by the sale of land would go towards ‘buildings or people’.
