Dan Neville (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I too recognise that the Government has allocated considerable funding to mental health services as promised and that progress has been made. However, I question the effectiveness of the HSE in using the funds to obtain maximum improvements to services. Does the Minister of State accept that one of the key aspects is to establish an emergency service, especially at weekends? Of all admissions, 23% took place on Saturdays and Sundays when emergency services were not available. If emergency services were to be introduced immediately, this would go a long way towards correcting the issues Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl and I have raised. We urge the Minister of State to ensure the moneys allocated to the HSE are applied to emergency services.

It is not a large number of children we are discussing, but it is a vital cohort for whom the service must be provided. I again draw attention to the concerns of the people who know about the admission of minors, some of them children under the age of ten years, to adult mental institutions. These children are in serious need of inpatient care. We do not want to see people going to mental institutions and units, but on occasion it is absolutely necessary. These are acutely ill persons in need of the maximum treatment leading to recovery. If we were even to get a commitment to the introduction of emergency services today, it would be progress.

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