Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 117: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the outcome of her discussions with the Health Service Executive regarding the allocation of €51 million in 2006 and 2007 in respect of the introduction of the recommendations contained in A Vision For Change of which €27 million of allocated money has been spent on the purpose for which it was allocated. [32678/08]

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The estimated additional cost of implementing the report of the expert group on mental health policy, A Vision for Change, is €150 million over a seven to ten year period.

I am advised that of the €51 million provided in 2006 and 2007 for the implementation of A Vision for Change, about €30 million has been invested. It has not been possible to proceed with the other planned service developments because of competing expenditure pressures.

However, it is fair to point out that in its 2008 service plan the HSE prioritised the development of child and adolescent mental health services. This included the recruitment of eight additional child and adolescent mental health teams and the development of 18 additional child and adolescent beds at St. Anne's, Galway, St. Vincent's, Fairview, and St. Stephen's Hospital, Cork. The provision of these beds will increase the number of beds from a current provision of 12 to 30. Four of these beds have already been commissioned, with the remaining 14 beds to be provided before the end of this year.

Implementation of A Vision for Change is dependent to a greater extent on the remodelling of existing resources than on new additional funds. In this regard, the HSE has advised that its detailed implementation plan for A Vision for Change will be submitted to me before the end of the year.

Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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The Minister, Deputy Harney, freely accepted on 8 May last that moneys should not have been hived off from the allocation of €51 million that was provided for under A Vision for Change. Just €27 million of the €51 million package has been spent. The Minister argued that there is no point in providing money if we do not know where it will be used. Therefore, she allocated no money this year. Do I understand correctly that just €3 million of the outstanding €24 million has been spent this year under A Vision for Change? At that rate, it will take nine years to spend the balance of the €51 million that was allocated in 2006 and 2007. Can the Minister confirm that the process which is under way at the moment involves a discussion on the allocation in question? What was the outcome of the discussion on the moneys which have not yet been used for the purposes for which they were allocated? Will the Minister tell the House whether the Government is committed to addressing the important recommendation outlined in chapter 17 of A Vision for Change? I refer to the recommendation that an additional €25 million be allocated each year for seven years to facilitate the non-capital investment demanded in A Vision for Change. The Minister has already committed herself to selling current resources to fund the capital requirements of A Vision for Change.

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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It is important to point out that €30 million has been invested in new consultant psychiatrists, the new forensic mental health service and the implementation of the most recent Mental Health Act. The Minister has referred to the need to remodel existing resources, which was mentioned by Deputy Neville. It is explained in A Vision for Change that most of the plans are based on the remodelling of existing resources. I made it clear at committee meetings that the Minister, Deputy Harney, and the HSE have given me permission to proceed with the disposal and remodelling of the assets in question. That is happening as I speak.

Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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That is for capital, not for——

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I will come to that. I said before the summer that I would tell Members of the Oireachtas who represent the areas affected by the proposed sales exactly where the funds which will be raised will be spent in the specific area of mental health treatment. I outlined in my initial response the level of funding that has been secured for existing services in the 2008 service plan. I remind the House that I referred to the development of child and adolescent mental health services. I have given the relevant figures. Eight additional child and adolescent mental health teams will be recruited. Eighteen child and adolescent beds will be developed in three hospitals. It is clear that the implementation of this programme is going ahead. I emphasise that €30 million of the €51 million that was mentioned has been invested in essential services.

Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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The €51 million was supposed to have been spent in 2006 and 2007. I would like to raise another issue relating to reconstruction. In 1984, Planning for the Future recommended the development of multidisciplinary community-based psychiatric services. The more recent A Vision for Change contained the same recommendation. However, various non-governmental organisations involved in this area have made it clear that there are no fully multidisciplinary community-resourced psychiatric teams in Ireland today. Therefore, it is totally inadequate to reconstruct the current services. A Vision for Change clearly states that there is a need to recruit additional staff to all parts of the psychiatric service, including community-based psychiatric services. Adequate resources are needed to ensure our multidisciplinary teams are fully constituted. That is not the case in Ireland, 24 years after it was first recommended.

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I agree totally with the Deputy and in that regard I also see the need for multidisciplinary resource teams and A Vision for Change underlines that fact. By way of making the suggestion, I have started the process of visiting psychiatric hospitals throughout the State. I visited St. Senan's Hospital in Wexford and it and its staff are to be commended. They are moving towards what the Deputy suggested, namely, providing multidisciplinary teams. It is by way of the Government's commitment of realising the asset values of our lands and embankments that we will provide the services and the structures.

Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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It should be ongoing.

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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It has been in operation for three years and it is a ten year programme. It will be delivered.