THE HSE AND the Department of Housing are at odds over whether the well-known Baggot Street Hospital in Dublin, which has now been put up for sale, was offered to the department. 

The historic building which dates back to 1831 has been lying vacant since 2019, when the HSE ceased its operations there.

It was announced this week that the HSE was putting the building up for sale, saying in a statement that no state agencies showed any interest in taking it on. 

The Journal asked the Housing Department why the building, given its central city centre location, could not be used for housing, asking if the HSE offered the department the property for such a use. 

Responding, the department said: 

This department has not been offered the Baggot St. Building for housing purposes.

The statement is at odds with the statement by Brian O’Connell, the HSE’s director of health infrastructure, who said the decision to sell a large part of the hospital was made as it wasn’t needed by the HSE and no other state agency expressed interest in taking it over.  

The Journal asked the HSE this week if it had approached the Department of Housing regarding taking over the building.

The HSE responded, saying that it followed protocol by putting it forward, in the first instance, for acquisition by other State entities. 

However, ultimately, the HSE made the decision to sell part of the property as “there was no confirmed interest from other state agencies in the premises”. 

Labour’s Alan Kelly, who visited the property last year as part of his role as chair of the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee at the time told The Journal:

“Why this fine building was let get into this state of disrepair is beyond me. I visited it and it is in a terrible state. It is a prime location and should be used by a state body instead of being sold to the highest bidder.

“Surely the Department of Housing or the Department of Culture would be interested in it. Otherwise Dublin City Council must have plans to use it as civic space or to provide local services,” he said. 

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The Department of Housing said that in its past role of supporting the then Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) – which was the lead department for the provision of accommodation for Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection, consideration was given to use the building for use as temporary accommodation.

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“This was in the context of this Department’s Emergency Refurbishment (Ukraine) Programme (ERUP), no longer operating, for Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BoTP) from Ukraine,” said a spokesperson for the department.

“Dublin City Council was requested to conduct an initial site inspection of the Royal City of Dublin Hospital, Baggot Street, Dublin 2, to ascertain if it was a suitable building to be refurbished as temporary accommodation for BoTPs. 

“The site investigation report and preliminary costings found that the building was not habitable and the work required to bring it into a habitable condition would require substantial time and money,” said the spokesperson. 

The HSE said it will keep the Haddington Road side of the site, where it hopes to locate a primary care centre.