Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

For Deputy Kenny's information, the mental health tribunal is up and running and there are inspections. I have given impressive figures relating to teams. The Deputy has correctly stated we are in a better financial position and that we have trebled the resources available for mental health services. We have an additional 98 consultant posts, with the number moving from 210 to 308, a significant increase.

A Vision for Change, the report of the expert group on mental health, was only launched 11 months ago and covers both adults and children. It was accepted by the Government as a basis for the development of mental health policy and has been broadly welcomed by representatives of the mental health professions which asked us to take action. An independent monitoring group was established eight months ago by the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, to monitor progress in implementation of the report. The HSE has established an implementation group to ensure its recommendations are realised in a timely and co-ordinated manner. Allowing for assimilation of the significant number of existing posts, the report estimates that over 1,800 new posts, together with total non-capital investment of €150 million per annum, will be required in the next seven to ten years. An enormous demand has been outlined to be met by the health service. The report estimates that approximately €800 million in capital investment will be required. It recommends "that steps be taken to bring about the closure of all mental hospitals and to reinvest the resources released by these closures in the mental health service". That is the reason we have put so much money into mental health services. We increased the mental health budget from approximately €300 million to close to €900 million. Obviously, there will be resources in the budget for mental health.

Regarding the point Deputy Kenny mentioned at the start, the HSE has 49 child and adolescent mental health teams. This year we provided funding for an additional eight. I am not saying we have reached the full position as we need 40 additional teams but even if we were to look for them tomorrow we would not get them. The report A Vision for Change stated we must keep doing that every year. It will not take us too long to reach the recommended level but it will not be done in one go.

Like many issues, resources for staff and buildings are required and we are dealing with that. This year alone, the HSE will recruit 400 new staff in mental health services. I do not think people can say that is not an adequate response to a report published at the start of this year. In 2007, we must do the same and, as I stated, we must do the same for a number of years to reach the total of 1,800 additional people in the health service. Forgetting about the money for a minute, hiring those people will take a considerable effort because a large portion will come from outside the country. However, we must hire them and in 2007 we will continue as we did in recent years.

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