Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

——with the full implementation of the Mental Health Act 2001 and the launch of two important strategy documents, A Vision for Change, the report of the expert group on mental health, and Reach Out, the national strategy for action on suicide prevention.

A Vision for Change, launched in January 2006, represents an action plan for the development of a quality mental health service which places the patient at the centre. It recognises both the strengths and inadequacies of existing services and a strategy for building on the innovations outlined in previous strategy documents. The Government has accepted the report as the basis for the future development of our mental health services and is firmly committed to its full implementation.

Although there have been great strides taken in the development of mental health services in Ireland, I accept that we are not where we want to be, but we are getting there. A Vision for Change is an ambitious and aspiring publication, containing 200 recommendations to be implemented over a seven to ten year timeframe. The challenge is to maximise the benefits of having such a progressive strategy to ensure that real benefits for the patient and indeed for society as a whole are realised.

The second annual report of the independent monitoring group was published on 27 June 2008. I welcome the findings and recommendations in the report. The group expressed its disappointment at the slow rate of progress in implementing A Vision for Change. We must accept that much work needs to be done and I look forward to seeing increased progress this year and in subsequent years.

The HSE recently approved its implementation plan which sets out six key priorities for 2008 and 2009. These include the provision of eight additional consultant child psychiatry teams. The HSE recently advertised an additional 12 consultant child and adolescent psychiatrists and is examining new ways of working to address waiting lists. Another priority is the provision of 18 additional beds for children and adolescents at St. Anne's Hospital in Galway, St. Vincent's Hospital in Fairview and St. Stephen's Hospital in Cork. This will increase the bed complement from the current provision of 12 to 30 during 2008, which represents a 150% increase in child and adolescent inpatient bed capacity. A third priority is the construction of two 20 bed units for children and adolescents in Cork and Galway. Construction of these units is expected to be completed in 2009.

The HSE will also expand multidisciplinary community based mental health teams and complete existing teams. It is intended to support new and existing teams to develop the multidisciplinary nature of their services and provide a more comprehensive range of medical, psychological and social therapies to service users and families. Adopting a holistic approach to developing services lies at the core of A Vision for Change.

Work is also advanced nationally on the process of replacing the remaining psychiatric hospitals with a range of modern mental health services. Closure plans for existing psychiatric hospitals will be put in place by the end of 2008 and the revenue raised from these sales will be directed towards improving mental health services.

Mental health has been in receipt of unprecedented investment in recent years which has allowed us to make real improvements to mental health services. However, it is not just funding that has made a difference. It is a completely different approach that has and will enable new mental health services to develop. We now have a much greater focus on community services, the provision of multidisciplinary teams, early intervention services and many others. The modernisation and reform of services is in line with what patients want and what they need.

I assure Deputy Neville that the Government is firmly committed to the implementation of A Vision for Change. The Government's decision to establish an office for disability and mental health reflects its ongoing commitment to developing a more coherent and integrated response to the needs of people with disabilities and mental health problems. The overall vision is to establish structures which provide greater cohesion in supporting disability and mental health across the public service. The office brings a new impetus to the implementation of A Vision for Change, working in partnership with the HSE and other stakeholders to achieve implementation of agreed targets. The HSE has undertaken to prepare a more comprehensive implementation plan for beyond 2009 by the end of this year and I reiterate the Government's commitment to the full implementation of A Vision for Change.

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