CLOSURE OF CIVIL REGISTRY OFFICE IN TOWN
The civil registry office for births, deaths and marriages located at the Community Care Centre on the Dublin Road has been ‘ temporarily closed’ due to ‘staff shortages.’
The centre, which is located on the same campus as the Louth County Hospital, was closed on Monday, April 9, on what the HSE says on its website, is a ‘ temporary’ situation.
Cllr. Anne Campbell, a member of the Regional Health Forum, says she was made aware of the issue last week when a new mum from North Louth went to the centre to register the birth of her twins and found that it was closed.
The lady was told she had to go to the Haymarket Centre in Drogheda in order to register the births.
The Louth councillor has asked the HSE for a formal response to the situation, and has not yet received a response, but says other inquiries she has made reveal that ‘staff shortages’ are being blamed for the closure of the office in Dundalk.
Cllr. Campbell said: ‘I was shocked to find out this office, which provides a vital service for people in Dundalk and North Louth, has been closed since Monday.
‘I have been able to ascertain that there are problems with staffing and there is insufficient capacity in the HSE to provide appropriate staff for the office in Dundalk.
‘I have been told that people who need to register birth, marriages and deaths will have to go to the office in Drogheda.’
She added that it has not yet been established when the office in Dundalk will reopen.
‘In addition, I spoke to undertakers last week who had not been informed that the office was closed and bereaved families will now have to go to Drogheda to register the death of a loved one.
‘ This is another bad blow for health-related services in Dundalk. The town has suffered more than enough from HSE mismanagement over the years and this is another example.’
The Louth Councillor added ‘I am calling on local HSE management to now make the re-opening of this office in Dundalk their top priority and do everything possible to ensure it is reopened as soon as possible’.
Meanwhile, Louth TD Declan Breathnach described the closure as ‘unacceptable.’
‘Dundalk is a highly populated town and a convenient location to serve all of north Louth, including Carlingford and Omeath. It is unacceptable for people from the north of the county to have to travel over 60km to Drogheda to avail of what is a vital and necessary service.
The office was closed on Monday last without any prior notice. The HSE are saying that the closure is temporary, however, when I contacted the Civil Registration Service in Drogheda this morning, staff could not say when the Dundalk Office will re-open, and I was told that they don’t know themselves.
‘For new parents wishing to register the birth of their child, and also for grieving families wishing to obtain a death certificate, it is unacceptable and extremely inconvenient for them to have to travel to the Haymarket Health Centre in Drogheda, where the service has relocated to.’
‘I will be asking the HSE to have the office in Dundalk reopened without delay,’ concluded Breathnach.