Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I have a concern about the area of intellectual disability. No area has matched the outcomes called for in the A Vision for Change strategy but my understanding is that, despite all mental health services being under-resourced, services for people with intellectual disabilities lag far behind the norm or the median target range of all the other areas. If there is a clinical lead on intellectual disability, which I understand there is, I think it is important that the Minister of State and the Department meet that person. At the very least, intellectual disability services should match general adult services or old age services. The teams catering to intellectual disability services in all of the allied health professions lag far behind. Comparing the data on them versus data on the other teams, I am of the view that there is not enough focus on this area. We can talk generally about budgets or increased allocations. However, unless this committee and the Joint Committee on Health hear about what targets the Minister of State is meeting within the strategic focus of the A Vision for Change document, we cannot measure anything that his Department is doing in the area of mental health. I think it is the health professionals that need to receive the focus and resources. If services for people with intellectual disabilities are lagging behind, which they are , then they need to be a focus. I ask that the Department bring greater light to the data relating to intellectual disability services and the health professions therein. I have not heard much from the Department, today or ever, about how it is matching the focus of A Vision for Change.