Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for giving me the opportunity to raise this issue and the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, for being present. Just before Christmas, staff at the Ballina psychiatric unit at St. Joseph's District Hospital in Ballina and at Teach Aisling, a dedicated unit in Castlebar, were informed that unless they could produce what were termed "viable alternatives", these two units would be closed at the end of February and they would be transferred to the acute unit at St. Teresa's, the main mental care unit in Castlebar.

As the Minister of State can imagine, the staff at both units and across Mayo give a superb service. They are selfless in their dedication not just to their patients but to patients' families and to the communities which they serve. They are absolutely devastated by the consequences of this decision, particularly for the nurses in Ballina, who will be transferred into Castlebar, and for the patients at Teach Aisling, who are a particular kind of patient. They will not get the kind of service or attention in a central acute unit that they are getting at present. The irony in the case of Teach Aisling is that it is being used by the HSE as a prototype of how services should be delivered. In Ballina, the service has ten nurses attached and is currently serving 60 service users. It provides in-care treatment and also provides 24-hour nursing care to individuals with chronic mental illness and supports those in the community with medication and advice.

I compliment the Minister of State and everybody involved in the superb "The Frontline" programme last night. "Operation Transformation" is also on at present and I believe we are at such a stage in this country that an "Operation Transformation" should be applied to mental health as it is to obesity. The difficulty with last night's programme is that it was a one-off. I hope the Minister of State had a chance to have a discussion with Dr. Eleanor Fitzgerald Loftus, our local coroner, who would have filled her in on the difficulties we are facing in Mayo with regard to mental health.

Although the HSE management locally have told me it is not a final decision, they are informally telling everybody it is. The treatment of people in the community in what is geographically the third largest county will suffer. The range of services available within the north Mayo community, which are keeping people in north Mayo in their homes, will suffer. The acute unit in St. Teresa's, which is already under enough stress, will be put under more stress and people will suffer. There is no way around this.

I know the issue arises because of retirements and I know that the Mayo psychiatric services are suffering more retirements than normal at present. However, the level of retirements is not the same within the Ballina unit. These two units are being closed to ring-fence the acute unit at Castlebar.

I commend the Minister of State with regard to the €35 million and the 400 posts as this is probably down to her persistence and that of her predecessor, Mr. John Moloney. If we can get some of those 400 posts with a view to maintaining these services, we will go a long way towards protecting mental health services in Mayo. I heard the Minister of State talking on "The Frontline" last night of her trip around Wexford yesterday. I invite her to come to Mayo to see for herself the services on the ground provided by the HSE but also by Mayo mental health services, and to see what is at risk. I look forward to her response.

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