Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

There are approximately 61 multidisciplinary teams which will include child and adolescent services. I am not certain that they are fully functioning. That is something we will need to investigate. While many are fully staffed, not all of them are. We are most concerned about children. Two new purpose-built 20-bed child and adolescent units at Bessborough in Cork and Merlin Park in Galway have been completed. I have visited both of these exceptional facilities. Acute admissions at St. Brendan's in Grangegorman have now ceased. Enabling works are under way on the development of a 54-bed replacement long-stay facility as part of the Grangegorman redevelopment project. We are making progress. Progress in some areas is easier than in others. The community-based services are important, as are multidisciplinary teams, and the child and adolescent service. There are other areas where there is major resistance to closing old institutions. I do not believe there is one person in this establishment who feels that those institutions should continue as they are.

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