Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 43 and 48 together.

The Government is committed to the ongoing and future development of the Castlerea Mental Health Hub in Castlerea, County Roscommon. The project is one of three child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, Connect initiatives planned. The others are in Limerick and Cork. This project was announced in June 2020 with two main elements identified for development - a new child and adolescent mental health service Connect day hospital and a psychiatry of later life day hospital. In 2020, €800,000 was invested in development capital works, refurbishment and staffing recruitment by the HSE. For 2021, 14 posts have been approved and €1.4 million allocated from within the overall allocation for mental health. Release of funding is imminent, and local services have approval to proceed with further development this year.

For the CAMHS Connect day hospital, provision has been made for staffing to include a consultant psychiatrist, a non-consultant hospital director, an advanced nurse practitioner, a senior social worker, a clinical nurse specialist, a senior psychologist and an occupational therapist. The consultant psychiatrist and non-consultant hospital director are in place and the advanced nurse practitioner and social worker are scheduled to start at the end of the summer. Recruitment for the other posts will start immediately.

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