Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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12. To ask the Minister for Health if he has commenced the promised review of A Vision for Change, when he will complete it, the composition of the review team, its terms of reference, and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20606/16]

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Could the Minister confirm whether the promised review of A Vision of Change has begun, when it will be completed, its terms of reference, the composition of the review and so on?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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A Vision for Change has guided national mental health policy over the past ten years and, as the Deputy rightly said, its term has come to an end. The Department published a request for tender last month to invite parties interested in undertaking a review of A Vision for Change to express an interest in doing so. The Department's requirements are for experts to review and analyse national and international evidence and best practice in the development and delivery of mental health services. The review should also identify sites of best practice, outlining reasoning and identify how these models can apply to the Irish context. The review is also expected to assess the current delivery of mental health services in Ireland having regard to international evidence and the implementation of A Vision for Change.

It is envisaged that the review will be completed later this year. The review will provide evidence to determine the policy direction for a revision of A Vision for Change and it will have regard to both human rights and health and well-being objectives. As I said in a response to Deputy Wallace earlier, we need to move away from specifically focusing on mental illness. When the review is completed, the Department will examine the output and will then decide on the need for a monitoring group to oversee any required policy changes.

The contract will be awarded on the basis of the most economically advantageous tender. It will be split into two sections, 50% of it will be based on cost, a further 30% will be based on the quality of proposed methodology and 20% will be based on demonstrated ability by way of previous experience on the part of the tenderer to carry out the work. I hope that the review will be finalised at the end of the year. The next step will be to see whether we need an oversight group to implement the changes that will have been recommended.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I welcome the fact that we have progressed to getting a timeframe. I am very disappointed that it will take until the end of the year. The term of A Vision for Change ran out in January; the ten years were up. A Vision for Change provided for an independent monitoring commission, which sat for two periods, 2006 to 2009 and 2009 to 2012. It has not sat since then. Will the Minister of State confirm whether it will sit in the meantime while we are waiting for the review to be completed. A Vision for Change was visionary ten years ago and it remains visionary. The difficulty is it has never been implemented. It foresaw that Governments would not implement it.

That is why they asked specifically for a review after ten years to see how effective it had been and, more importantly, for an independent monitoring group to run simultaneously to monitor whether it was implemented or not. Can the Minister of State confirm the situation in relation to the independent monitoring group?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the Deputy that progress has been slower than initially anticipated but it continues to be made in implementing the report's recommendations. As the Deputy rightly pointed out, the vision has not changed. While the review is under way, we are continuing to implement the report. In recent years, the Government has provided an additional €160 million in ring-fenced funding for mental health from 2012 to 2016. That has progressed the implementation to various degrees of the actual document. While the independent group to which the Deputy refers is currently not established, it is a question I have been raising and something I would like to consider once the review is finalised at the end of the year. We need to take that time. While it might seem like a long time, it is something I could come back to the Deputy on, depending on the recommendations. We need some form of oversight committee to put in place a timeline to ensure that we are progressing at adequate speed.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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While I welcome what the Minister of State said, "slow and inconsistent" was the opinion of the Mental Health Commission and the finding of the independent monitoring group. The last time the group sat was 2012 and yet the Minister of State stands up and tells me what money has gone into it. While I welcome the investment, there is no independent group to tell us how effectively it is being used and whether it is being used at all in the most efficient way possible. That was all anticipated. Now we are going forward with another review that is going to take the whole year. To me it is unacceptable. All of this was laid down in 2006 and even then it was not in a vacuum. It was based on a report going back to 1984 on planning for the future. It is extraordinary that we find ourselves in 2016 with the tender only now going out and the review group. It will not be ready until the end of the year while in the meantime, the Minister of State cannot tell me whether an independent group will be set up to monitor what has happened to date. That was part of the original recommendation. All of that said, the plan should be taken together and not piecemeal.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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To reiterate, it is my view that we should have some form of oversight committee. While the review may seem like a long time, if we wait until the end of the year to implement the committee, it will have oversight of what we have implemented to date and of the recommendations being put in place by the review committee itself. We must continue to focus on moving towards a more community-based environment for our mental health services. For my part, that means working with the mental health review commission and a lot of the other organisations which have provided significant oversight on this and rightly pointed out where we are failing, where we are not and where we need to improve. It is important that I continue to work with them in that regard. My view is that once the review is completed, there should be some form of oversight committee or board.