Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for selecting this issue for debate. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for being here.

In many HSE documents we see the mantra the "right care", the "right place", the "right time". In County Meath it does not happen. We are aware that there is an intent in acute services to close the ICU and emergency department at Our Lady's Hospital, Navan. We are at the bottom of the list or very close to it for primary care and disability services, GP services or the head of population services, children's services, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, psychology services and on the topic we are to discuss today, namely, mental health services. I draw the Minister of State's attention to the vacancy for a suicide resource officer, for example. This post has been vacant for longer than other vacancies in any other part of the country, since February 2020. Also in this context, with day services we have a failure by the HSE to deliver appropriate physical space to deliver services. As a result, we do not have the services delivered. For those small number of people who are receiving services, they are stressed and anxious that the service will be cancelled at short notice. A huge swathe of people who otherwise would have received services are not getting those services. Active day hospital services are not happening, there is no group work, therapy or assessments. These services would have been dealing with 70 people a day, and it is not happening. We want to hear from the Minister of State what the plan is for the physical space and for the services.

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