New local children’s service is launched

A NEW early intervention service for young children in Dublin 15 was officially opened by Minister for Health, Dr Leo Varadkar, last week.

The service will be provided at a new

?¬2.4 million building on Clonsilla Road, Blanchardstown, by the Daughters of Charity Disability Support Services, which also provides supports to people with intellectual disability nationwide.

The new Oakridge Children’s Services facility was designed and built by the Daughters of Charity with support from the HSE.

“This building is an excellent example of collaboration between the Daughters of Charity Services and the HSE in a new initiative to provide a comprehensive range of services to children and young people,

? a Daughters of Charity spokesperson said.

Oakridge will provide services for children aged 0-6, including specialist pre-school and clinical supports. It will also be a resource for older children and their families offering multi-disciplinary supports, educational workshops and training programmes.

It’s hoped that Oakridge will eventually support a network team in a reconfiguration designed to progress children’s disability services to more equitable, user-friendly supports for all children with disabilities and their families.

Seventy per cent of the funding for construction and fit-out of the new building was provided by the HSE with the additional 30 per cent coming from the community of the Daughters of Charity.
The building was planned following a review by the Daughters of Charity of its service provision to local children in 2006.

The review recognised the growth in population in the greater Blanchardstown area and the need to develop supports as close as possible to where children and young people live.
The building was planned and designed by an internal team supported by Eoghan Garland (Architect) and was constructed by PJ McLoughlin Ltd to provide a highly energy efficient and accessible facility that is child-friendly to its core.