Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure when it is going to dawn on the Taoiseach that in order to restore faith in the political process, we need language to mean something. A Vision for Change is not out of date. The desktop review did not say that it is out of date. Since the notional date of January 2016 expired, this Government has left a vacuum. The independent monitoring body, which the Taoiseach failed to mention, should be re-established.

On the €12 million, I took the precaution of raising it in the Dáil more than once. I sent a number of emails to the Minister regarding the €12 million that cannot be spent. I await replies to all of those emails. On Galway, does the Taoiseach, who is also a doctor, believe it is right that a mental health service has no psychologist, occupational therapist or social worker of the level that is required such that the treatment being provided is medication therapy as opposed to non-medication therapy? Is this in keeping with A Vision for Change? The statements on suicide we have had in the Dáil over the past four years and all of the various elements were unnecessary. What needs to be done is set out in A Vision for Change. Deputies should be calling for it to be updated and implemented and for the re-establishment of the independent monitoring body. In the context of the €12 million, will the Taoiseach tell us in plain language that it will be spent and that he does not stand over a situation where there are four delayed discharges and posts not being filled?

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