Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last June, the Tánaiste opened the first e-mental health hub in Castlerea, County Roscommon in my constituency. It is a €2.6 million development to provide mental health services to children and young people through CAMHS Connect and, crucially, a day hospital for psychiatry of later life patients. The service was hailed at the time as having the potential to improve radically mental health services for patients. These were the Tánaiste's words. Perhaps if the HSE funded and staffed the service this would be the case. Last year, funding was provided for four staff members and the remaining vacancies were to be funded this year. However, this year no funding has been awarded for the four staff or the remaining vacancies. No funding has been provided for the psychiatry of later life service. This is particularly disgraceful given that the Rosalie unit, a care home for older people with dementia, was closed and replaced with a service that is not being funded. Far too often, the people of Roscommon are left behind when it comes to healthcare.

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