Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Jimmy Devins, for coming in to reply this matter. Almost every day we hear harrowing stories of how the health service is failing patients, but there are none more scandalous than the neglect of young people with mental health problems. I spoke on the telephone last week to the mother of a 16 year old girl who has attempted to take her own life nine times. As one can imagine, that mother was at her wits end trying to watch over her daughter to keep her alive and safe. She urgently needs appropriate hospital care but she lives in a region of the country in which there are no dedicated child and adolescent psychiatric beds. As of the last information I received, there were only 12 such beds in the entire country.

This girl has been on a waiting list for months to get one of those 12 beds or a bed in a private hospital. The HSE buys in such beds in extreme cases. If it has no alternative and the young person must be hospitalised, he or she may be placed in an adult psychiatric ward or in a paediatric ward in a general hospital. When I contacted the HSE in the particular region in the past hour, I was told that this young girl is now in an adult psychiatric hospital. As the Minister of State well knows, adult psychiatric hospitals are not suitable for children and adolescents for a variety of reasons.

I spoke to another mother a couple of months ago whose daughter was in an adult psychiatric hospital and she was extremely distressed about this. It is a disgrace that we treat highly vulnerable people in this way and that there are thousands of children on long waiting lists for psychiatric services around the country. The strain on families who must watch and wait is enormous.

I raised this issue in a parliamentary question last autumn and received a written reply. The reply which I received on 19 October 2007 states:

There are currently 12 public in-patient beds available, six of those are in Warrenstown in Dublin and the other six are in St. Anne's in Galway. Additional bed capacity will become available in March 2008 with the commissioning of four further beds in St. Anne's in Galway bringing the total bed provision in Galway to ten and an additional six beds will be provided at St. Vincent's, Fairview, also in March 2008.

I was also informed in the reply that at that time there were 3,598 children on psychiatric waiting lists. I understand from a recent press report that this figure has increased further.

We learned relatively recently that most of the €25 million allocated in 2007 for the implementation of the recommendations in A Vision for Change, the report of the expert group on mental health policy, was diverted for other purposes. It is incomprehensible that this could have happened when so many children and adolescents were in such desperate need of services. I urge the Minister of State — I am aware this issue has been raised with him on a number of occasions — to ensure the €25 million allocated is ringfenced for the purpose for which it was intended, namely, implementation of A Vision for Change. This funding must be used this year to address the needs of the most vulnerable of our citizens.

I am particularly concerned about our young adolescents given our suicide rate. They are vulnerable young people who, when they need a bed, desperately need it. We must ensure these beds are provided for them. We must also provide the required community services.

I have two questions for the Minister of State. Were the ten extra beds promised in the reply to my parliamentary question provided by end March? If not, perhaps the Minister of State can tell me why they have not been provided and when they and further beds will be provided. The number of beds promised is only a small fraction of the number required. I accept promises have been made in respect of bed provision in Cork, Limerick and other parts of the country. However, it is absolutely vital that money should be spent in this area. I hope the Minister of State's response in respect of the ten extra beds will be that they have been provided and are available.

My second question relates to when the young person to whom I referred will get a suitable bed. I will give the Minister of State the detailed information in this regard. I have spoken directly about this matter to the relevant people in the parliamentary affairs division of the HSE and to the young woman's mother. It is absolutely vital that she gets a suitable bed. I hope the Minister of State's response to my questions will be positive.

Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I take this Adjournment on behalf of my colleague, Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney. I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising the issue.

Many factors affect the mental health of young people. While the changes which have taken place in Irish society in recent years have brought considerable benefits to individuals and communities, social problems continue to exist which affect young people and their families.

The recognition and application of early intervention for any young person experiencing mental health difficulties is the fundamental first step on the road to recovery. Without the right circumstances and support, problems may arise which can have a significant effect on a young person's future and can potentially lead to serious difficulties.

A Vision for Change contains some 200 recommendations to be implemented over a seven to ten year timeframe. It is clear that new funding should follow implementation. In this regard an additional €51.2 million has been allocated since 2006 to the Health Service Executive for mental health services, bringing spend on mental services to a billion in 2007. However, it is not alone this unprecedented investment that has allowed us to make real improvements to mental health services but a completely different approach that has, and will, enable new mental health services to develop. We now have a much greater focus on community services and the provision of multi-disciplinary teams, early intervention services and many others. This modernisation and reform of services is in line with what patients need and want.

While it has to be acknowledged that there are still gaps in our services, I am pleased that in this context the HSE has prioritised the development of child and adolescent services in 2008 and that those services delayed in 2006 and 2007 will be developed in 2008 including, critically, the recruitment of eight additional child and adolescent community mental health teams.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Is the Minister of State certain they will be developed?

Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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Alongside this will be the provision of 18 additional beds for children and adolescents, increasing the bed complement to 30 by end 2008. As Deputy O'Sullivan correctly stated, four of these beds are located in St. Anne's, Galway and I had the pleasure to launch them last week.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Are they open?

Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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Yes, they are open. We went to St. Anne's in Galway last Thursday during the health forum. I recommend that the Deputy take the opportunity to visit that wonderful facility which now has a complement of ten beds.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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That is welcome news. I hope the other six beds will soon be provided.

Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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The other six beds will be provided at St. Vincent's in Fairview which I visited some weeks ago. Construction of the facility, the timeframe for which has slipped a little, is well under way. It is hoped the project will be completed by end August.

It is also hoped that we will have 30 extra beds in place by the end of the year, including eight beds in St. Senan's in Cork.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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I will continue to monitor the situation, as I am sure will the Minister of State.

Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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Absolutely. It is an issue of concern to me also and I strongly support the need for these beds.

Looking further ahead, the construction of two 20-bed units for children and adolescents in Cork and Galway will also commence this year and will be, it is anticipated, completed by Autumn 2009. I recognise the many challenges that lie ahead but I assure the Deputy that the Government is fully committed to the continued development of our mental health services, as clearly reflected in the decision last January to establish the Office for Disability and Mental Health. The new office brings together responsibility for a range of different policy areas and State services and aims to bring about improvements in the manner in which these services respond to the needs of people with disabilities and mental health issues by working to develop person-centred services, focusing on the holistic needs of clients and service users and actively involving them in their own care. I have been designated Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities and mental health and the new office will support me and facilitate cross-agency and cross-departmental working and thus enable us to deliver real benefits to clients and service users into the future.

On the Deputy's second question, I would be grateful if the Deputy could provide me with details of the case to which she referred. I have been working, during the past couple of hours, on a particular case in the south east. I will keep in touch with the Deputy on the matter.