Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

——highlights what has happened in recent years and we should take full account of that. A commitment to what we must do in the period to 2011 was made in A Vision for Change by the expert group and it has been implemented. This year alone, the HSE will recruit 400 staff to build up mental health services. That is a very strong resource. We have trebled the amount of resources, which effectively all relate to staff.

We have put a significant amount of resources into the teams, all of which is due to the service and work of the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley. The only point he made was that child mental health services in Kildare reduced their waiting times following the appointment of an advanced nurse practitioner who worked in close collaboration with what Deputy Kenny said we should have, namely, a multidisciplinary team to improve access services. The Minister of State said he would urge the HSE to evaluate the model and extend it to other areas. That was not an unreasonable thing for the Minister of State with responsibility for that area and for the massively extended budget in this area to say.

The Government knows and has identified in A Vision of Change what it needs to do over the coming years. By and large, that involves recruiting additional staff. Extra money is required for that and in our Estimates for next year, and for the next three years——

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