Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This all happened four and a half or five years ago. When the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, went into the Department of Finance he did not know of the existence of the tapes. While the Department would have known there were tapes, it would not have known of their content. It was only when the activities of the bank in question were brought to public attention that the warrants were served by the Garda and the tapes confiscated and made available to the Director of Public Prosecutions as part of its preparation of the books of evidence.

The Minister has answered this question umpteen times already. The Department of Finance would have known there were tapes in existence but would not have known their content as it only came to light because the tapes were made available to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Persons involved may have received tapes relevant to themselves or whatever and some of them have come into the public domain. It is four and a half or five years since the conversations on the tapes took place.

On the programme to recruit persons to deliver enhanced mental health services in the community, in all my years in the House the entire mental health area has been treated as some kind of Cinderella outfit and was effectively treated as if it were not part of the health system. This Government decided to make mental health services part of the mainstream structure of the health system. Previously, when moneys were allocated to mental health services by means of parliamentary Vote, the funds were diverted to make up for funds that were draining away in other areas and it became virtually impossible to trace where they had gone. Once they were disbursed, it became difficult to ascertain to where X amount, which had originally been allocated for mental health services, had been allocated. I am not saying the money was misappropriated but it was directed all over the place. In the past two years, €70 million was specifically allocated and ring-fenced for mental health services and it is now clear that more than 800 professionals will be recruited to deliver enhanced mental health services in the community. This is a very progressive development which will have beneficial consequences for those who experience mental health challenges from time to time as well as those who need to avail of mental health services on a regular basis.

I pointed out to the Deputy that the reason for delays in 2012 was that the Health Service Executive used to wait until it had a sufficient headcount to start the recruitment process. This took a long time, which resulted in matters being backed up and the required number of people were not appointed. However, the HSE director general designate has confirmed that this will not apply in 2013 and the posts are moving through the system.

Some 55 have accepted positions; 147 have been offered positions and the remainder of the 444, or whatever the number there is, will be pursued as effectively and quickly as possible. I hope this stands up and that by the back end of the year we can all say that as distinct from two years ago there are now nearly 900 extra professional people working in the delivery of mental health services for people who need them in communities throughout the country. I think that is a good thing. Government made its decision to say that instead of this being some sort of end of a Vote or the Cinderella of the health services, it is now a central part of it. The figures show that one in four or one in three people face mental health challenges of one degree or another during the course of their normal lives. I hope that these 900 professional people will bring their skills, enthusiasm and service to those who need it most and that will be good for the country anyway.

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