Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, to revert to the Deputy with more details on South Tipperary General Hospital after Leaders’ Questions. He is aware of some of the cases to which the Deputy referred and he has spoken to some of the parents involved.

Staffing and necessary skills shortages need to be addressed in the context of extra beds. Up to €55 million of additional funding has been committed for next year to develop new services, which will involve ten new beds in the Central Mental Hospital and 20 new child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, beds coming to the new children's hospital. There is a recognition that there is a deficit. We are providing significant resources to address that.

On the broader mental health service issues, funding this year is almost €1 billion at €910 million. That is an increase of €200 million since 2012. In excess of 2,000 new posts have been approved since 2012, of which over 1,300, 66%, have been recruited with recruitment ongoing for the remainder. The appointment of 114 assistant psychologists and 20 staff grade psychologists for primary care child psychology services is ongoing. A series of actions are happening which are linked to reports which have been done. This represents incremental improvement all the time.

However, I am aware there are certain pressure points in different parts of the country. This is a particularly sensitive area in child and adolescent mental health services. We have seen significant increases in funding and funding commitments with the staff and beds that need to go with that. The challenge is ongoing. I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, to come back to the Deputy with a more detailed answer on services in Tipperary.

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