2026-07-14

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak about James Weir nurses home on Cork Street in Dublin 8, only a stone's throw from where I live. This building was built in 1903. It was originally built by James Weir, a Scottish-born merchant and philanthropist. It was built for nurses working nearby in the fever hospital, which was also called the house of recovery. It accommodated up to 50 nurses, who were able to stay there. Only around the corner, about 20 years later, the first tenant purchase scheme was built by the State in 1922 in The Tenters. This part of the city is very historic and a lot of tourists come to see things in Dublin 8 but Dublin 8 has a real challenge when it comes to providing community spaces and permanent homes for the people who live there all the time, and not transient accommodation for students who pay a huge amount in private student accommodation or, indeed, hotels. There is a campaign called No More Hotels because what we need Dublin 8 are homes for people who live there all the time. We also need community spaces. What I would like to discuss this evening really is the fact that the Weir Home is now owned by the HSE, which has decided it will not be able to do anything with it and so it wants to give it to Dublin City Council but the council does not want it. No one wants it because it has been vacant for so long and it has been left to go into a state of disrepair and it will cost a lot of money. Originally, from 1903 to the 1970s, it was used for nurses' accommodation. From the 1980s onwards, it was used by the HSE as an overflow for mental health facilities linked to St. Brendan's Hospital. In 2021, the remaining residents were relocated from the area. It has been vacant since then. It is a very beautiful building. Beside it is a very precious Quaker burial site. In Dublin 8 when we celebrate culture, this is one of the buildings that should be celebrated. It is one of the buildings that could bring a huge amount of joy and peace to people living in the city centre. Campaigners are looking to see whether it can be used for housing. I know negotiations went on with the Peter McVerry Trust but it does not seem to have been possible. The Solas Project, which works with young people, has also been in negotiations to have the site transferred to it. It supports many young people throughout Dublin 8 and beyond but I am speaking about Dublin 8 right now. It does not have a permanent premises. This is a huge disadvantage for it. If we want to tackle issues that challenge young people and their ability to thrive, having a proper fully decked-out space for them would be fantastic. We are in a housing crisis and we do not have enough homes. This is a ready-made home. Why are we not using it for healthcare workers? There is St. James's Hospital, the Coombe hospital is just down the road from it, around the corner is James's Street and we will have the new children's hospital. There are plenty of places and if we were going to house healthcare workers, this would be a fantastic location for them. There is a housing crisis and people cannot afford to live in the city. They are choosing not to live in the city and we see this in the education system. I really hope something can be done from a central government funding perspective so the HSE can hand this over to whoever will use it but with an injection of funding to be able to resource it so it is successful.

I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to update the House on the position of the James Weir nurses home on Cork Street in Dublin 8. I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. The Health Service Executive is responsible for the management of the public healthcare property estate. The HSE has a significant property portfolio extending to circa 4,300 buildings across circa 2,300 locations throughout the country. The health estate is varied and complex and the HSE actively manages its evolving property portfolio. Decisions in respect of vacant properties are informed by HSE service management and based on an understanding of current or future healthcare service needs in the relevant area. A building may be vacated by one service with a view to refurbishment for an alternative use or a property may be maintained for future service expansion at a specific location for demographic or service requirements. Following extensive review, the property known as the James Weir nurses home, or Weir Home, on Cork Street in Dublin 8 was identified by the HSE a number of years ago as surplus to its requirements and it was decided to dispose of the property. The disposal of Weir Home is being carried out in line with statutory obligations, including the Land Development Agency Act 2021, Department of public expenditure Circular 11/2015, the protocols for the transfer and sharing of State property assets and Department of public expenditure Circular 17/2016 on the policy for property transactions by State bodies. The Department of public expenditure circulars require all State bodies to update the State Property Register with details of all properties that are surplus to their requirements and available for occupation or disposal. The HSE offered this property to all State stakeholders through the property mapping register viewer site of the Office of Public Works. The HSE engaged with all expressions of interest from State bodies in relation to the property. However, after this engagement process, no other State body chose to acquire Weir Home from the HSE. While one State stakeholder expressed interest, this transaction did not proceed. The HSE will now progress to disposal of this property on the open market in line with Department of public expenditure circulars and the HSE's property protocol. The HSE continues to engage with the Department of Health, the Department of housing, the Land Development Agency, local authorities, the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration and the Department of An Taoiseach in relation to its surplus assets as part of an all-of-government approach to increasing housing stock. I note the comments Deputy Cummins made earlier and I have no doubt she will develop them a bit more in her response.

I appreciate that the HSE has gone through all of the steps it needs to. The challenge is that the country has a problem with housing. If we are giving away State-owned buildings and State-owned land - not giving it away but selling it on the open market - where are we going to start to develop things? There is fear in my constituency. The building should really be protected as an historic building and it should also be used either for healthcare accommodation needs or affordable housing in a housing crisis. Why do we need to keep giving away and selling really valuable assets? This does not happen in other countries. That building is so beautiful. What will happen to it when it is sold on the open market? Will it become more really expensive apartments, which Dublin 8 is already littered with, or co-living or student accommodation? We have enough of these and we do not need any more of them. We need proper housing. We need young people to have a youth service in there or workers giving essential care to people not only in Dublin 8 but throughout the city and country who come from all over the place to James's Street, the Coombe and the new children's hospital. Here we are again. This has been going on for a really long time, whereby we have beautiful buildings that no other State agency wants to take on. The HSE has to be called out for letting it go into such disrepair that now it will cost so much to bring it back up. That happened with the hospital on Baggot Street also. There have to be better fines for this. We should be fining the HSE for how it allowed the building to fall into disrepair since it got it. We should not celebrate the fact it will now make money by selling it on the private market and who knows what will happen. I am cross on behalf of my constituents because here we go again in Dublin 8. We will have more student accommodation, more hotels and more really expensive apartments.

As I said earlier, following extensive review the property known as Weir Home on Cork Street in Dublin 8 was identified by the HSE a number of years ago as surplus to its requirements and it was decided to dispose of the property. Disposal of Weir Home is being carried out in line with the statutory obligations, including the Land Development Agency Act 2021 and the relevant circulars from the Department of public expenditure. The HSE engaged with all expressions of interest from State bodies in relation to the property. However, no other State body chose to acquire Weir Home from the HSE. While interest was expressed by one State stakeholder, as I said earlier, this transaction did not proceed. The HSE will now progress to dispose of the property on the open market in line with the circulars from the Department of public expenditure and the HSE property protocol. The point the Deputy raised will be brought to the attention of the HSE and I have no doubt she will follow up directly with the HSE herself on this particular matter.