James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Broughan for raising this important matter for discussion today. I am responding to this topical issue on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, who has responsibility for mental health issues. Health Service Executive, HSE, services for people with eating disorders are embedded in the main in the community mental health service and primary care. Individuals with eating disorders frequently present to the primary care practitioner with complications of their condition and early intervention at this level greatly improves outcomes. The HSE has developed a mental health in primary care accredited training programme with Dublin City University for primary care practitioners, with a view to enhancing the capacity of primary care to recognise, assess and treat a range of mental illnesses, including eating disorders, within the primary care setting.

Community based adult mental health services receive referrals from primary care and provide assessment and treatment to individuals with eating disorders. Child and adolescent mental health teams provide a similar role for their cohort of referrals. Where the individual's psychiatric or medical needs are more acute, inpatient admission is offered within the local psychiatric services or acute medical care where necessary. The HSE can and has worked with service providers in the independent sector to provide specialised care, on an inpatient and-or an outpatient basis.

Services for persons with eating orders are also provided in the voluntary sector and in this regard I should mention that the HSE provides funding to BodyWhys, the national voluntary organisation supporting those with eating disorders. Bodywhys provides a range of support services for people affected by eating disorders, including specific services for families and friends. As the House will be aware, a special allocation of €35 million was provided in budget 2012 for mental health. The funding will be used primarily to strengthen community mental health teams in both adult and children's mental health services, by ensuring, at a minimum, that at least one of each mental health professional discipline is represented on every team. More than 400 additional staff will be recruited to support initiatives under the €35 million package. It is intended that the additional resources will be rolled out in conjunction with a scheme of appropriate clinical care programmes. Three areas in particular will be prioritised in 2012, one of which will be around the treatment and care of patients with eating disorders. These programmes are currently being finalised.

On the regulation of psychotherapists and counsellors, the priority of the Department of Health for the foreseeable future is the statutory registration of the conventional therapies, through the full establishment of the Health and Social Care Professionals Council. Before statutory registration can be considered for other therapies, such as counselling and psychotherapy, there is a need for each individual therapy to federate so that it can advise, as a single voice, on professional standards. That was a recommendation of the report of the national working group on the regulation of complementary therapists. The Higher Education and Training Awards Council is currently working with representatives of the professional bodies and higher education institutions that provide courses in counselling and psychotherapy, along with international experts, to determine national standards of knowledge, skill and competence to be required for the award of higher education qualifications in these fields. While academic qualifications are not sufficient in themselves as a means of professional regulation, agreement on academic standards does form a critical building block for any modern regulatory system for professions. I trust this clarifies the issues for the Deputy.

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