Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies Mattie McGrath, Healy and Cahill for raising this very important issue of residential psychiatric care beds in County Tipperary. Mental health care remains a priority in the programme for Government. Since 2012, approximately €200 million, or 28%, has been added to the HSE mental health budget, which now totals more than €910 million. This is a significant investment by any standard. A Programme for a Partnership Government gives a clear commitment to increase our mental health budget annually, as resources allow, to expand and modernise all aspects of the services, including those in Tipperary. HSE mental health funding for Tipperary this year is in the region of €24 million. One of the strategic priorities for mental health in the HSE national service plan for 2018 is to deliver timely, clinically effective and standardised safe mental health services in adherence to statutory requirements. Acute inpatient care to the adult population of north Tipperary, which is in community healthcare organisation, CHO, area 3, is provided between the acute unit in University Hospital Limerick, which has 50 beds, and the acute psychiatric unit in Ennis, which has 39 beds. The 44-bed department of psychiatry based at St. Luke's General Hospital, Kilkenny, is the designated approved centre for acute inpatient services for south Tipperary, which is in CHO area 5. This enables all acute inpatient admissions for this CHO area to be managed at a single site. Referrals to St. Luke's are through a consultant psychiatrist, who makes the clinical decision to admit based on the level of acute presentation or need.

In addition to the department of psychiatry, a dedicated psychiatric liaison team operates from the emergency department in St. Luke's. All service users presenting to the emergency department who require psychiatric assessment will receive that assessment within agreed timeframes, in line with relevant guidelines. Onward referral pathways are agreed with all service users upon completion of psychiatric assessment in the emergency department. Pathways can include admission to an acute unit, referral to a relevant community mental health service team or referral back to a patient's own general practitioner, GP.

There are a range of other mental health services for adults in Tipperary. These include, for example, psychiatry-of-old-age teams, non-acute beds, day hospitals and day centres. In addition, there are community mental health teams and high, medium and low-support community residences. For those under the age of 18, there are three child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, teams operating in Tipperary, one in north Tipperary and two in south Tipperary. The CAMHS acute units at Éist Linn in Cork and Merlin Park in Galway, which has a total of 42 beds, serve the Tipperary catchment area.

The Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, met Members from Tipperary last week to discuss current and future provision of mental health services in the county, including reviewing bed capacity.

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