Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 12 June 2024
Select Committee on Health
Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage
Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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I will respond to what the Minister of State said. There was a proposal for a pilot scheme on mental health in Limerick, where a mental health nurse would be in an ambulance going to people who had mental health episodes, due to the thousands of call-outs gardaí have to make every year. Twelve months on from when the pilot scheme was supposed to have been introduced, there is still no sign of it. There is massive demand around Munster for such a scheme. People who have an incident in Kerry, for example, are waiting on a private team to come from Cork. It is impossible for there to be immediate access. Are there any proposals in that regard?
Arising from the question on CAMHS, the redress scheme for south Kerry CAMHS is limited to a certain period of time. There are also people whose treatment commenced before 2016. North Kerry CAMHS patients have received apologies from the HSE for the deficiencies of care in their treatment. However, those in the redress scheme will receive €15,000 for special damages and paying for reports to cover some expenses. Even though other people have received apologies, they are excluded from that scheme. They are being further punished. It is more difficult for them to progress their legal cases. The average report costs about €3,500. The assistance south Kerry patients in the scheme are receiving is of great benefit, but others do not get it. Where the HSE has held up its hands and said there have been deficiencies in care, why not give those affected money to help them progress their cases? It seems unfair that they are not included when an apology has already been given.