Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and the news on bilateral cochlear implants, both sequential and simultaneous. Like Deputy Ó Caoláin, I hope it will continue and upscale in 2015 to meet all the demand because it is a set, limited group of children.

This committee has had a series of hearings on end-of-life care. It is laid out here in the service plan but we do not know what the budget will be because it is part of the acute services. Will it be the same budget or the increased budget of 2013, €72 million? At the end of page 32 one of the indicators is the total number of children in the care of the children's outreach nursing services. It says there is a new performance indicator for 2013 but surely we should know what the figure is. Normally the indicator on 2013 figures is there, so maybe there is an error.

In terms of mental health services, we are in ground-hog day. In 2012, 2013 and now 2014 we are told the money is ring-fenced, yet we hear about the underspend and the demand for necessary services. One could say it is great news that we have 156 new staff in 2013 but from March 2009 to the end of 2013 we have 932 fewer staff working in mental health services. When will these new staff be allocated? Since I have been a Senator I have sat here and heard recruitment will begin in the next quarter but we never seem to catch up. The money is supposed to be ring-fenced. Where will the new staff be allocated? Will it be in CAMHS, adult mental health, old-age psychiatry or forensic psychiatry? Nobody ever seems to be able to give these detailed figures, which makes it very difficult for me to see when and where these staff will be recruited in mental health. We have 9,065 staff; A Vision for Change says we should have 12,240. On dual diagnosis, is the HSE considering integrating some services, such as mental health and addiction services? We see a cross-over.

Can the HSE confirm that no deficit will be transferred over to the Child and Family Agency? There seems to be a misunderstanding out there that as part of the budget, a deficit is transferred.