Results 8,261-8,280 of 15,268 for speaker:Kathleen Lynch

Other Questions: Health Services Staff Numbers (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: I always think that when people resort to insults, they have clearly lost the argument.

Other Questions: Health Services Staff Numbers (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: We are delivering a new service. It is true that we are on the cusp of the second half of this year but A Vision for Change has been in this House since 2006 and the time limit for it is next year. While I do not dismiss what previous Ministers have done - I have always recognised that - we have done more in the last two years, so, cusp or no cusp, we are making progress.

Other Questions: Health Services Staff Numbers (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: Yes.

Other Questions: Health Services Staff Numbers (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: No, we have not reached what is recommended in A Vision for Change. I do not think we will reach it for the next two years either. We need to move step by step if we are to make progress in this area. The community mental health teams were badly staffed. We have to make progress and we are making progress. I would like to respond to what was said about the backfilling of posts when...

Other Questions: Health Services Staff Numbers (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: That is what I am paid for.

Other Questions: Health Services Staff Numbers (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: That is right.

Other Questions: Suicide Prevention (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: I apologise. I have received several reports on the matter. I have discussed the issue with a number of professionals, not all of whom are employed by the HSE or the Department of Health; nor were they all from Roscommon or Galway. All of them have said that awful things happen when one is dealing with very vulnerable people. That is why we provide the services in the acute unit. Without...

Other Questions: Health Services Staff Numbers (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: In 2012, a special allocation of €35 million was provided for mental health, to be used primarily to further strengthen community mental health teams in adult and children's mental health services, to advance activities in the area of suicide prevention, to initiate the provision of psychological and counselling services in primary care and to facilitate the transfer of mental health...

Other Questions: Suicide Prevention (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: I know the Deputy does not, but it is as if commitment is not enough.

Other Questions: Suicide Prevention (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: That is not true.

Other Questions: Suicide Prevention (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: I wish to reply first to Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin's point about the app. Last year when we discussed how to reach people - they are not sitting down to watch the "Nine O'Clock News", as the Deputy and I know, rather they are in different places - one of the suggestions made was that an app be developed to give people, whether they were living in County Donegal or Dingle, at...

Other Questions: Suicide Prevention (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: Every time a Member stands up to discuss the issue of suicide, he or she refers to an overarching authority like the Road Safety Authority. The Road Safety Authority has done an incredible job and I have no particular issue with it. However, we have a statutory overarching authority already, the National Office for Suicide Prevention, which develops policy and is now co-ordinating the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Residential Care Provision (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: I do not think there is any disagreement here. We know that there are people who have a dual diagnosis, who have anxiety, depression and other mental health issues, even people who have a disability diagnosis. Last year we did not allocate any posts in the areas of disability and old-age psychiatry. That is the priority issue for this year. With regard to this woman's mental health...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Residential Care Provision (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: I cannot give any commitment. It is very clear that there is no budget for private facilities. The only commitment I can give is that I will contact the director of services for disabilities in Cork. We will see what can be done but I am not making any promises.

Other Questions: Suicide Prevention (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: I propose to take Questions Nos. 76 and 131 together. Suicide is a tragedy that we are constantly working to prevent, and we are also working to give more support to the families affected. Dealing with the current high levels of suicide and deliberate self-harm is a priority for this Government, and significant additional funding has been provided in recent years to address this issue....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Primary Care Services Provision (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: That is not true.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Residential Care Provision (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: The HSE has advised that the individual concerned was previously accommodated in a 24-hour residential facility up to her recent admission to St. Finbarr's Hospital. She receives medical input by means of twice weekly ward rounds from the treating consultant. A structured timetable of activities at a day centre has also been developed, and staff members at the centre continue to encourage...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Residential Care Provision (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: Yes, I referred in my reply to St. Stephen's Hospital.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mental Health Services Provision (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: Worry is not a basis for not using the service. The types of language and debate we have heard on this issue are such that I am not surprised people are worried. People who present with very challenging behaviour have always been dealt with by the service. That is what the mental health service does. In the main, 95% of people can be dealt with in the community but there will always be...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mental Health Services Provision (25 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: I thank the Deputy for his question. The language used today is better. Ultimately, it is about language and we must be very careful not to discourage people from using the service when they need it. This is not a resources issue. There are 890 people working in the Galway-Roscommon service. They might not be in the right place, but they are in that area. Those who work in this service...