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

The Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, met HSE officials and CAMHS HSE local representatives this week to discuss the specific actions that needed to be taken in the south east where I know there are specific pressures, as the decisions taken by consultants certainly confirm. Their frustration has led to resignations. The response from the Government needs to be the delivery of services. If we are to do this, we need to recruit more specialist staff. We certainly need to recruit from abroad. In the medium term we need to ensure we will produce more undergraduates in this area and that they will stay in Ireland.

Improvements in consultant recruitment are taking place. In urgent cases, consultants may be recruited at the ninth point of the payscale. In summation, the Government through the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, with a sense of urgency recognises there is a staffing shortfall here. It is more acute in some parts of the country than others. We are actively ensuring that a recruitment campaign delivers the numbers needed to fill those gaps. I assure the Deputy there are no funding restrictions in respect of doing that.

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