Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for bringing this to the floor of the Dáil. I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. I will read into the record her response, or some of it anyway. I happen to know St Francis Nursing Home. It is important for me to put that on record as well. I am aware of the work that goes on there.

I am further aware that when we have a service that is working and functioning, sometimes we should think twice before we try to break it.

Day centres are fundamental to the health and well-being of our older population and play a key role in enabling older people to live independently in their own communities. The reopening of these centres is a priority for the Minister of State, Deputy Butler.

The HSE has operational responsibility for planning, managing and delivering health and personal social services. The reopening of day care centres for older people has commenced following their necessary closure last year. The HSE continues to actively work on the resumption of these vital services as a priority in line with current public health guidance. At the end of October, approximately 200 centres for older people had reopened and I am pleased to say that the St. Francis day service reopened in early October. To be honest, Deputy Connolly advocated seriously for the reopening of day services as well.

The HSE has decided that the space used for catering at the St. Francis centre will be dedicated to clinical space for enhanced community care including integrated care for older persons and day care. This will support older people to have their needs met within the community, benefiting from a multidisciplinary team and working towards providing them with the right care in the right place at the right time. Recruitment is currently under way for most of the posts required.

In addition to the St. Francis centre being proposed as a clinical space for integrated care for older persons, there are a number of other primary care services also planned for the centre that will provide services to the community in line with Sláintecare and enhanced community care. The HSE has assured the Department that day services for older people will continue to run in the St. Francis centre as part of the new configuration.

The continued enhancement and improvement of our mental health and suicide prevention services remains a priority for my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, and for the Government as a whole. She was pleased to secure unprecedented funding of €1.149 billion for HSE mental health services next year. This is an increase of €47 million over 2021, and will enable the continued implementation of Sharing the Vision, our national mental health policy, including important recommendations relating to CAMHS. Next year's new development funding will provide for the recruitment of 350 new staff across mental health and will allow for new initiatives in community mental health teams, including CAMHS, CAMHS telehubs, out-of-hours supports, specialist eating disorder services and mental health services for older people.

In the remaining time, it is important to address the question Deputy Connolly asked, which is why we are closing a kitchen that is professionally run by a chef that supports the needs of older people within the community. It also provides a meals-on-wheels service. I am no different to you, Acting Chairman, in that I am from a rural constituency. We know the value of a day service which some people attend one or two days a week, but they might take home meals for another two days. Such provision of care is important. I could perhaps take up the issue with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, on behalf of Deputy Connolly. It may be something we need to take up at a local level with Breda Crehan-Roche to have a clear understanding of the exact decision process involved and to see if it is possible to preserve the kitchen.

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