Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is a lot going on in this space. There is now a process under way to examine this and resolve it. I am sure it will result in a cost to the taxpayer. We do not yet know what that cost will be. That is part of the work that is being done. It is difficult to allocate money until one knows the actual estimate.

Reference has been made to mental health services in the south east. Timely access to care is an essential part of good healthcare. We are committed to achieving this by increasing the funding allocated for mental health services. Indeed, the amount of money allocated for these services has increased by over €200 million each year since 2012. One CAMHS consultant in the Waterford-Wexford area is moving to Dublin. Two locums, who hold temporary posts in any case, will be resigning in August 2018. The Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, is meeting local representatives of the HSE CAMHS to discuss the actions that need to be taken to ensure people in the south east who need care continue to receive it. The Minister of State has scheduled a round-table meeting of all CAMHS service providers in the coming weeks. While there is no doubt that recruitment in this area is difficult, it is being dealt with. The HSE is currently operating a national and international recruitment campaign for CAMHS consultant psychiatrists. The service in the south east plans to draw on this resource to fill positions on a permanent basis, in addition to vacancies being filled on an interim or temporary basis. The recruitment of 114 assistant psychologists and 22 psychologists for primary care child psychology services has almost been completed, with 111 of the 114 assistant psychologist places and 20 of the 22 psychologist places having been filled. Of those who are being recruited, 13 will be assigned to CHO 5, which includes the south east. Improvements are being made to children's counselling services. It is intended to extend the new Jigsaw service, which is already in Cork, Limerick and Dublin, to 13 sites nationally. The HSE is in the final stages of recruiting the staff required to deliver a mental health service seven days a week in areas that do not have a seven-day service currently. The annual number of undergraduate psychiatric nursing places will increase from the current level of approximately 270 to approximately 400 by the end of the decade. It is important to point out that in April, the total number of people on the CAMHS waiting list reduced by 76 to 2,615. The number of people who have been waiting for more than a year decreased from 386 in March to 356 in April. While I appreciate that too many people are waiting for too long, it is not the case that these waiting lists are increasing.

I think Sláintecare is a good plan. Those who are proposing it have admitted that it is at best a plan for a plan. There is no implementation plan. The Government has been tasked with drawing up such a plan and that is exactly what we are doing. There is a lot to be done because the costings were off. A lot of work has had to be done in that respect. There are issues with the phasing, which proposes that we extend free GP care to an extra 500,000 people each year. Members of the committee will privately admit they do not think it is a good idea because the capacity does not exist to extend by 500,000 a year the number of people with free GP care. It is just too quick, given the capacity constraints that exist in GP surgeries and elsewhere in primary care. It would probably lead to waiting lists to see GPs, which would not be desirable.

I say that as the person who brought in free GP care for those over 70 and under six and announced the decision to extend medical cards as a right to children with serious disabilities. It is something I am very much committed to doing but I honestly believe that an extra half a million a year would be too quick, would overwhelm the services and would make them worse for everyone, not better for some.

I was asked about the transformation fund. It is there in Project Ireland 2040. There is a commitment of €10 billion to be invested over ten years in buildings. There are three hospitals now under construction. The national children's hospital was promised forever by successive health Ministers and is now very much under construction. The new National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire is under construction. The new forensic mental health campus is under construction in Portrane. Some 100 primary care centres are now up and running. It will also involve the additional acute beds that are needed under the capacity review, additional equipment, and investment in ICT. If there is a game changer in health, it is going to be in ICT.

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