A motion to review the decision to relocate the Central Mental Hospital will be made at the Oireachtas Health Committee tomorrow, by Fine Gael Health Spokesperson Dr James Reilly.

Dr Reilly has said the move is a Government attempt to extract "maximum worth" from a site acquired in a "bad deal" at the expense of best practice for patients.

He said: "It has long been the Fine Gael position that the Government's plan to relocate the Central Mental Hospital is absolutely wrong.

"The move will impede rehabilitation, increase stigmatisation and, because of the location, isolate patients from their families.

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"This assessment is shared by a range of voluntary organisations and experts including Amnesty International, the Central Mental Hospital Carers' Group, the Human Rights Commission and the Mental Health Commission.

"It is abundantly clear that, having done a bad deal on the Thornton Hall site, the Government is now trying to extract the maximum value from it and the sale of the current Central Mental Hospital site in Dundrum.

"This should not be done at the expense of patients with mental health problems and, indeed, a cogent economic argument has been made for the re-development of the Central Mental Hospital on the existing site," added Dr Reilly.

However, Health Minister Mary Harney has previously said the new hospital at Thornton "will provide a therapeutic, forensic psychiatric service to the highest international standards, in a state-of–the-art building".

See: Delegates Visit Controversial Mental Hospital Site

See: Hospital Relocation Costs 'Greater' Than Investing, Says Report

(PR/KMcA)