Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I again thank Deputy Eugene Murphy and appreciate his very sincere interest in this. As a constituency Deputy, he has rightly come across families who are interacting with these services and who are dependent on them. He is entirely right that people build up a rapport, a personal relationship, a trust, and a bond with people working in our mental health services. It can be upsetting for people when they hear that staff are moving, but it is even more upsetting when that then develops into a worry that those staff will not be replaced or that services will be transferred to another county. I hope Deputy Eugene Murphy and his constituents can take some comfort today from my assurance that is not the HSE's intention. The HSE's intention is to fill these posts, and in fairness to it, it has taken proactive steps to make sure they are filled on an interim basis. However, I accept absolutely and could not agree with the Deputy more that they need to be filled on a permanent basis. That is the intention of the health service. I have asked to be kept personally informed of this through regular updates from the HSE to my Department and I would be very happy to share them with Deputy Eugene Murphy and to keep him informed.

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