Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Andrews for raising this matter, which I will take on behalf of my colleague, the Tánaiste.

Our mental health services have undergone significant changes over the past two decades. The move away from institutional care to community care has brought the mental health services generally closer to the service user. The move from hospital-based care to individualised care has empowered users to take a more proactive role in their care and treatment. This has been complemented by the care and treatment provided by multidisciplinary teams in partnership with other health care professionals and voluntary agencies.

These changes have been in line with the model of service provision now recommended by the recently published report of the expert group on mental health policy, A Vision for Change. This report is the first comprehensive review of mental health policy since Planning for the Future was published in 1984. The report has been accepted by the Government as the basis for the future development of mental health policy. It recommends that a programme of capital and non-capital investment in mental health services, adjusted in line with inflation, should be implemented in a phased way over the next seven to ten years. The proposed new workforce will comprise more than 11,000 staff throughout the service. Allowing for the assimilation of all existing posts, the expert group has estimated that a total of 1,800 new posts are required across the services, together with a total non-capital investment of €150 million per annum in addition to existing funding. This programme of investment has already begun with an additional €25 million allocated to the HSE in the Estimates for 2006 for the further development of mental health services.

Significant capital investment will be required to implement the proposals in A Vision for Change regarding the provision of new and replacement facilities for the mental health services. This has been estimated by the expert group to be of the order of €800 million and, as outlined in their report, much of it could be realised from the value of existing hospitals and lands.

The proposals in A Vision for Change will allow for further significant expansion in community services and in specialised services for groups such as children, older people and those with particular needs. The implementation of this policy will be a matter for the Health Service Executive in accordance with the provisions of the Health Act 2004. The national mental health directorate within the HSE is in the process of establishing an implementation group to ensure that the recommendations are realised in a co-ordinated manner.

I am aware the adult mental health service in former community care area 1, now known as the local health office in Dún Laoghaire, has a population of 170,000 and a mental health budget of almost €13 million for 2006. There are 4.5 consultant-led mental health teams operating in the area.

In preparation for the implementation of the Mental Health Act 2001, the Health Service Executive reviewed the number of consultants per capita in the new local health office areas. The review indicated that the local health office in Dún Laoghaire has the lowest number of consultant psychiatrists per capita in the country. In order to begin to address the issue, an additional €550,000 revenue funding will be allocated to the Dún Laoghaire service in 2006, and the intention is to provide additional funding in coming years in order to increase the number of consultant-led teams in line with the national norm.

My colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Tim O'Malley, who has special responsibility for mental health, will be seeking the active support of all involved in the mental health services so that together we can bring about the far-reaching improvements contained in A Vision for Change. He will shortly be appointing a group, as recommended in the report, to monitor the implementation of its recommendations.

I would like to stress that A Vision for Change details a comprehensive model of mental health service provision for Ireland. It describes a framework for building and fostering positive mental health across the entire community and for providing accessible, community-based, specialist services for people with mental illness. On that basis, I assure Deputy Andrews that, in line with this policy, the level of mental health service provision throughout the country will be improved and equalised in the coming years.

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