David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

What is happening here is absolutely outrageous. As the Minister of State said, the service in Wexford was amalgamated into the Waterford service. The Mental Health Commission's report states very clearly that there is a lack of capacity regarding space, therapists and staff and that, essentially, the unit in Waterford was starved of resources and capacity. Bizarrely, the commission's recommendation is to close the unit or dramatically reduce the numbers there, with no consideration given to people who have mental health issues and who need the services of that unit right across the region. Rather than looking at closing or reducing the services, the Minister and the Government should be focusing on increasing the capacity, which the Mental Health Commission has said is not there. Where are the therapists? When are the vacant psychiatric posts going to be filled? How is the Minister going to increase the physical space for recreation areas and quiet rooms? The commission spoke of these things but what is the plan? If there is no plan and if the Government does not put the resources in place, then we could be faced with losing beds and that would be on the heads of those in this Government. Shame on the Government if we see beds close in a psychiatric unit it will have a deep impact on people who suffer from mental health issues.

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