Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has made a very interesting point. There is no absolute answer to the query he raised as to whether we have enough inpatient beds. Change is always difficult and the change that was envisaged in A Vision for Change was very dramatic, namely, to move away from inpatient care to community care. As the Deputy will be well aware, it is proving to be an ongoing challenge to ensure we have the supports and staff necessary to provide the care that is needed.

The review of A Vision for Change is ongoing. An oversight group is examining that and we are reviewing it. I am due to meet the group which is reviewing it, I believe, on Wednesday of this week. The question the Deputy raised is still being posed. There is the question of whether we have gone too far or have we gone far enough and, I suspect, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. The provision of inpatient beds is probably being chased from the top. I am trying to refocus the system and have more interventions at an earlier more localised level, whereby we could prevent illnesses escalating and the need for beds at the top. Sometimes when we talk about beds, it can be like treating the symptom, and we can keep producing more beds when we may need to examine what is sending all those people up into the acute space that requires inpatient treatment for mental health.

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