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

Mental health continues to be a priority area for the Government. We recognise that mental health service users are among the most vulnerable in society. For this reason, €39 million has been added to the mental health services budget for 2020, increasing the annual allocation to €1.026 billion. This represents an increase of over €315 million, or 45%, since 2012.

This funding will help in the continued improvement and development of mental health services. Funding by itself is not enough, however. We also need to look at how we deliver services and how we can reduce demand for the specialist mental health services by treating people at as early a stage as possible.

In this regard, the HSE is introducing several digital mental health initiatives driven by the Department of Health. These include tele-counselling and tele-psychiatry projects, which will provide remote counselling and psychiatric consultations, as well as helping to improve access to these services. Greater use of available technology will help to deliver services at an earlier stage, helping to ensure that mild mental health issues are dealt with before they become more serious.

These initiatives exemplify the serious intent of the Government to progress and improve mental health services. We have also enhanced mental health services provided in primary care. The introduction of 114 assistant psychologists and 20 psychologists in primary care has produced a 28% increase in referrals, which will total approximately 14,000 in 2019. This has helped to reduce the national waiting list for CAMHS to around 2,000, a decrease of 500 or 20% since December 2018.

Funding for seven of these psychologist posts and 16 of the assistant psychology posts for the Cork-Kerry area has ensured this trend is reflected in this region. The number of young people waiting to access CAMHS has reduced by 14% from 667 in January 2019 to 574 in October 2019. Despite this, it is recognised that the Cork-Kerry region CAMHS waiting list number must be reduced further.

Adult services in Cork are provided through 19 adult community mental health teams, five psychiatry of later life teams, three home-based treatment teams, a specialist rehabilitation team, a specialist homeless team and a mental health and intellectual disability team. In addition, dedicated liaison teams are based in Cork University and the Mercy University Hospitals with plans under way to develop a liaison service in University Hospital Kerry. There is an adult community mental health team for Carrigaline, providing outpatient services in Ravenscourt, St. Finbarr's Hospital, Cork. Cork-Kerry community healthcare faces ongoing challenges in recruiting and retaining both psychologists and psychology assistants. Psychology managers are working to meet these challenges with the HSE's recruitment service and the academic institutes on an ongoing basis.

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