Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)

Reading the programme for Government, I was struck by the following commitment: "We will ring fence €35m annually from within the health budget to develop community mental health teams and services as outlined in A Vision for Change to ensure early access to more appropriate services for adults and children and improved integration with primary care services." Speaking during an excellent debate on a Private Members' motion when many Members spoke from their hearts, the Minister of State noted strong similarities between A Vision for Change and a previous document, Planning for the Future, which was produced in 1984 when Mr. Barry Desmond was the Minister with responsibility for health. It is time to move beyond similarities and implement the programme set out in A Vision for Change.

At the time, the Minister of State herself noted it is not as though we do not know what needs to be done because we do. This is the point behind this Topical Issue. It is from all parties and none because I represent the Technical Group and Independent Members. Its purpose is to ascertain what is happening regarding the €35 million, the director - who will be vital to direct the service - and the ring-fencing of the staff for the community mental health teams. It remains the case that one in four people will have a mental health issue but this is not represented by the budget for mental health, which is still just over 5% of the total. Another interesting statistic is that 50% of adults diagnosed with a mental health disorder may have developed that disorder by the age of 14 and 75% of those so diagnosed will have developed it by the age of 24. The entire point is for early intervention, if for no other reason than from an economic point of view, much more will be saved. Moreover, so doing would prevent those families and individuals from experiencing the distress through which they are going.

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