Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Discussions are taking place between the Department of Health and the HSE on the final allocation of an additional €35 million that was provided for mental health services in budget 2015. I expect that the allocation will be finalised in the near future.

The sustained investment in mental health services by the Government since 2012 has enabled the HSE to recruit staff who are more suited to the development of a community-focused mental health service, which has been every Deputy's objective as we seek to improve services. This additional money and resourcing have provided for the requisite change in the mix of staff, in particular allied health professionals, across community mental health teams in line with A Vision for Change.

As of the end of March, 397 - 95.5% - of the 416 posts approved in 2012 and 405 - 85% - of the 477 posts approved in 2013 were in place. Of the 251 posts allocated in 2014, 50 staff have started and a further 70 posts are at various stages in the recruitment process.

The Deputy will accept that some of these processes take time. That is the actual picture.

The admission of children to adult psychiatric hospitals is an issue that the Deputy raises fairly. We have to acknowledge that this issue has to be resolved. It requires the allocation of resources and those resources are being applied. It is clear from the 2015 HSE service plan that this issue remains a key priority. As Deputies will be aware, reducing the number of children admitted to adult psychiatric units has been a focus of HSE mental health services over recent years. There were 89 admissions of children to adult psychiatric units in 2014. The Deputy might fairly say that this was 89 too many-----

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