Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue for discussion today. Nationally, inpatient child and adolescent bed capacity has increased from 12 beds in 2007 to 58 beds at present, with 26 beds in Dublin, 12 beds in Cork and 20 beds in Galway. This represents an almost fivefold increase over eight years. I am pleased to announce that a new purpose-built 22-bed child and adolescent inpatient unit located on the grounds of Cherry Orchard Hospital has been completed and will be opened next week by my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch. The existing 14 beds in the current temporary facility will transfer across to the new facility. This means that there will be an additional eight child and adolescent mental health beds in the country and that the total number of beds will increase to 66. Those who provide child and adolescent mental health services in the mid-west region, which covers Limerick, Clare and north Tipperary, have access as required to a modern state-of-the-art inpatient child and adolescent mental health facility in Galway. Requests for admissions to this facility are made by the local child and adolescent mental health teams in the mid-west to their counterparts in Galway. All applications are appropriately considered and prioritised.

The HSE is committed to the appropriate provision of child and adolescent mental health service inpatient beds for children. From time to time, a young person may have a very short admission to an adult facility pending the availability of a bed in a child and adolescent unit. These placements are generally for very short periods. Progress in this area is underscored by the fact that such admissions have declined from 247 in 2008 to 89 last year. It is important to stress that the HSE's intention is to aim for appropriate placements and to reduce to the greatest extent possible the need for and dependency on inpatient beds. Modern-day multidisciplinary interventions for children are much more appropriate to non-inpatient admissions and to supporting children in their own family settings.

In the mid-west region, a consultant-led child and adolescent mental health service is provided by multidisciplinary teams across Limerick, Clare and north Tipperary. This service operates an emergency service for critical cases of same-day referral. In addition, an out-of-hours on-call service is provided through the emergency department of the University Hospital Limerick. This is not replicated in all parts of the country. The child and adolescent mental health service based in Limerick is scheduled to move to a new outpatient and clinical premises shortly, subject to the completion of some final details in respect of the property involved. Plans are being advanced to explore the possibility of providing the equivalent of a day hospital-type service. This will further enhance the capacity of the services within the region. The Deputy will appreciate the priority shown by this Government to modernise mental health policy and services in line with A Vision for Change. He will also be aware that significant new resources have been allocated for mental health since 2012.

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