Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise to Deputy Smith for not addressing her question. Obviously, I hope industrial action will not take place. The Minister for Health met the association last Friday and is engaging with it. Some of the issues that are being considered are the possibility of more training places for psychiatric nurses, bringing back a number of recently retired psychiatric nurses and continued efforts to attract nurses who have been working abroad back to Ireland This is a genuinely serious problem and one that the Minister is working hard to grapple with.

In 2015, almost 30,000 people were offered a first appointment and seen under A Vision for Change, the mental health strategy. As Deputy Smith is aware, every emergency department has 24-7 access to mental health services. Consultant psychiatrist and non-consultant hospital doctors in psychiatry working in general adult and old age psychiatric services, together with liaison psychiatry medical staff, provide an on-call service outside normal working hours. It is largely focused on people presenting with urgent mental health problems.

The Government made a decision to adjust the Estimate in respect of the health Vote. Funding for the mental health area is being fully restored. Details will be outlined by Ministers and I am quite sure that the Deputy's input will be valuable to what is a serious argument.

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