Joan Freeman (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will direct my questions at the mental health division. I have heard the presentation that Mr. Dodd has made a dozen times. The first time was by the previous Minister of State who was responsible for the mental health brief, the Minister of State, Deputy Helen McEntee. The current Minister of State has said something similar and I have heard the same from the mental health division many times. At best the presentation can be described as defensive and at worst it is fantasy. It has been said that when a child is put into a mental health unit that he or she has one-to-one support but, in contrast, Dr. Finnerty said that not one of the units were compliant. Where did Mr. Dodd get his information from?

There seems to be a shrugging attitude about the recruitment and retention of staff. There is an attitude of it is not our fault, we just cannot get the staff. As Dr. John Hillery said this morning, any major company would ask itself why do people not want to work with us and why can we not retain staff. Has the HSE ever asked itself those questions? The staff in the HSE have changed. If the HSE cannot retain staff or they choose to move around all of time then how can there be continuity when it comes to dealing with the issues that affect this country?

A task force are the worst two words in our language. A task force sounds good but in reality it is just kicking the can down the road. As many as 12,000 reports have been written on our services and 12,000 tonnes of dust have accumulated. What is the point of these reports? Today, I had great hope until I heard Mr. Dodd's presentation. I had hope because I had listened to the men and women who work so hard in this country to make good services available to the children of our nation but then I heard the HSE utter the same platitudes again. Unfortunately, nothing had changed. When will the HSE change its tone?