Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will be very brief. The most significant development so far as my areas of responsibility are concerned would have been the appointment of the two directors in recent months, Mr. Stephen Mulvany, who has sole responsibility for mental health, and Mr. Pat Healy, who has responsibility for disability and older people, all very sensitive areas. In recent months, since their appointment, the level of inquiry and engagement between the services and the directors has been incredible and has made an enormous difference to how we will plan to deliver service into the future. In terms of mental health, the question has always been asked about posts, and rightly so. We need people with a particular expertise to work in the system.

I have found over recent months that while we are concentrating on the professional side of the service, we must also look seriously at administration. People cannot deal with the person sitting before them and simultaneously be expected to write up the report and develop that part of the service.

The 900 people working in the mental health service are very important and I believe we would face a far more difficult task without them, particularly if we had to bring in all new people. These people are the bedrock of the service and other people coming into the service must fit in with them and into the new structure. Mr. Stephen Mulvany will speak about this later. One of the important issues facing us is the need for a structure in the area of mental health. We need an IT system that will provide information on where people are working, what they are doing, what we want them to do and how the service is being delivered. The barriers to effective working need to be removed. Achieving this will be a key role for the director. If we succeed in this, we will have a service that will be robust enough to stand alone, no matter who is in charge. This would be a significant legacy.

In regard to older people and to disability, we are developing a clear view of what direction we want to take. The budget for this area this year is €1.5 billion. Mr. Pat Healy has set out what we need to do for those aged from birth to 18 years, where most development needs to take place. We also need to provide for school leavers. I am sure members have heard me say that we cannot come in here every May, June or July to discuss the issue of people due to leave school or their training places. This does not happen because it is a crisis, but because of the lack of foresight. Now, for the first time ever, we have a budget and a plan in place to deal with people who will need to move to a different space. I try not to use the jargon that has been used in the past in discussing disability and mental health. Language is important and we should try to move away from the kind of language that defines people.

The two major developments in the area of disability and mental health are the appointments of the two directors. Senator van Turnhout has consistently spoken out about the importance of a director and I am glad to say that the appointments have brought all the benefits we thought they would and I am convinced they will continue to bring benefits.

Despite the circumstances in which the country finds itself, we continue to make developments. When the country was awash with money, we did not know what to do with it other than give it back to people in the form of tax relief. We should have been putting infrastructure in place then, but we are beginning to do that now. We will have a new Central Mental Hospital in Portrane and it is well advanced in terms of planning and design. We will also have four new emergency care units, ECUs, throughout the country, in order that patients from the Central Mental Hospital may be able to move nearer their homes to make visiting easier for their families. Our plan is not just to examine the service, but to develop it and move forward.