Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, the best of luck in his new role, which will not be an easy one. I will try not to be difficult with him just for today.

A main principle of A Vision for Change is that people seeking mental health care should, where possible, be treated at the earliest opportunity in their own communities on an outpatient basis.

This is about providing the best care while avoiding hospitalisation and repeated admissions in the absence of community structures. It is also a much more efficient and cost-effective model of care for the State. Unfortunately, those community services have not materialised to the level recommended in A Vision for Change and hospital services, which remain far too necessary, have been scaled back for those seeking care and they have been forced to travel across the country. This can be seen in places such as Wexford in particular, where the closure of local beds has led to people having to travel to Waterford for inpatient care. In some cases, this may not be a major journey but for those on the northern edge of the county, it is at least a 90-minute drive and possibly 150 minutes by bus. This is very hard on the families of patients and it also discourages those who need care from seeking it. Consider how, in the midst of suicidal thoughts and a severely low mood, many may feel unworthy of the assistance needed to get them there for care. I have heard countless stories from family members who have had to drive their loved ones up and down the country, particularly in the south east, in order to find somewhere they could receive inpatient care.

In terms of child and adolescent care, only 63 of the minimum 100 beds needed in the State are in place. Children are being turned away from child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, in Cork and across the State because waiting lists are far too long. The inability to provide community care inevitably puts more pressure on the hopelessly inadequate inpatient services. According to the HSE, only 53% of CAMHS whole-time positions are filled at present. Eleven beds at Cherry Orchard Hospital are currently at threat.

While I am on the subject, I also wish to raise the serious concerns for funding for Youth Work Ireland's counselling services in Galway. This is an essential service for young people beginning to experience mental health issues. The service could provide 31 hours of counselling, which is almost double the current hours, to 12 to 21 year olds in local communities such as those in Galway, Ballinasloe, Tuam and Loughrea at an annual cost of just €62,000. However, funding is not stable - not even now. These are the kind of local early intervention services we need investment in.

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