Results 361-380 of 11,861 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Health: Mental Health Services Provision (1 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: The major responsibility for care of people with addiction lies outside the mental health system. These services have their own funding structure within Primary and Continuing Community Care (PCCC) in the HSE. The responsibility of community mental health services is to respond to the needs of people with both problems of addiction and serious mental health disorders. Acute...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Care of the Elderly Provision (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for his question. As the Minister of State with responsibility for older people, I am sure that every Deputy's priority is to ensure that people live active, healthy, happy and fit lives in their communities as they get older and that they participate in their communities for as long as possible. Where people need support, we must be able to provide it. The Government is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Care of the Elderly Provision (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: We will have plenty of opportunity to discuss everything that Deputy Kelleher has prepared. In the new era of cross-party consensus, we are all on the same page, in that we want to ensure that older people and those who deserve support at home get it. We are trying to deal with a number of issues. For example, delayed discharges is a major one. In order to move people on from emergency...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Care of the Elderly Provision (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: Yesterday, the House debated our intention to effect a ten-year plan for the health system. For a long time, we have been playing catch-up and going from year to year. As Deputy Kelleher rightly pointed out, of most importance is preventing people from reaching the stage at which they need to attend emergency departments at two, three or four times the cost to the State of providing a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mental Health Services Funding (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for his question and look forward to working with him in his capacity as spokesperson on mental health. As we all know, there has been a debate ongoing for a number of weeks on the key priorities of the Government in the area of mental health. The Deputy and many others have contributed to it. The Deputy put forward his own priorities and wishes and outlined what he...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mental Health Services Funding (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: Some €115 million in additional funding for mental health services was made available at a time when other budgets across the spectrum were cut. That increase was made by the previous Government so there is no reason to fear no commitment to increasing funding on the part of the current Government. We have committed to an increase year upon year. Obviously, we would like to see the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mental Health Services Funding (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: The full €35 million that was ring-fenced for this year will go into the base for next year. The budget will have to account for the fact that we are examining cross-departmental options. As such, I intend to have each Department and Minister identify a specific element of their remit through which they can contribute to mental health services because the issue is not confined to the...

Other Questions: Mental Health Policy (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: I thank Deputy Stanley for putting forward this question with regard to mental health promotion and policy and how it will be implemented in schools. I presume Deputy Louise O'Reilly will respond in his stead. Back in 2013, the Department of Education and Skills, the HSE, and the Department of Healthjointly developed Well-Being in Post Primary Schools Guidelines for Mental Health Promotion...

Other Questions: Mental Health Policy (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: Unfortunately, I cannot give the Deputy a set timeline for that. I spoke to the Minister for Education and Skills only yesterday on this issue. Essentially, what it means is that over a three year period up to the junior certificate, students will have to partake in 400 hours of wellness classes across a variety of different sections. With regard to school resilience and Pieta House, at...

Other Questions: Mental Health Policy (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: Unfortunately, as this is specifically within the Department of Education and Skills, I cannot give that information to the Deputy. However, I will give her a commitment that I will speak to the Minister of Education and Skills. As far as I am concerned, it is at an advanced stage. We should see it being implemented soon. With regard to the specific individuals on the taskforce outside...

Other Questions: Mental Health Services Report (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for his question, which relates to the review of A Vision for Change which is currently being undertaken. In January 2006, the Government adopted the report of the expert group on mental health policy, A Vision for Change, as the basis for the future development of mental health services in Ireland. It advocated, first, a holistic view of mental illness and an integrated...

Other Questions: Mental Health Services Report (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: To agree with the Deputy, when this document was published in 2006 we possibly did not foresee the financial circumstances in which we would find ourselves in the following years. However, in the last number of years the implementation of A Vision for Change has been given greater priority, with the Government providing an additional €160 million in ring-fenced funding for mental...

Other Questions: Mental Health Services Report (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: It would be my intention that the report will be brought before the committee so it could be discussed not just by ourselves and by Deputies but also, as Deputy O'Reilly said, by those who have an interest in it, such as the service users, the providers and the professionals themselves.

Other Questions: Mental Health Services Report (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: The review of A Vision for Change will allow the different individuals to have an input to this. We will need to look at best practice and at international norms, which will include asking those who are in the field and within the service. The Deputy asked if this is a priority, and it most certainly is. The fact is we have committed to increase spending on mental health year upon year,...

Adjournment Debate: Medicinal Products Availability (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue which has featured in the media quite a lot in recent days in the context of developments in the provision of new cystic fibrosis and cancer drugs. Nobody should have to pay 45 times more than what is paid elsewhere. It is not right. There should always be equal access. Decisions on the reimbursement of new drugs are matters for...

Adjournment Debate: Hospital Services (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which is obviously very important to her, her constituents and those in the west. Galway University Hospitals, comprising of University Hospital Galway and Merlin Park University Hospital, provide a comprehensive range of services to emergency and elective patients on an inpatient, outpatient and day care basis across the two sites. An issue has...

Adjournment Debate: Mental Health Commission Reports (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: I thank Deputy Browne for his question. The Mental Health Commission is charged with visiting and inspecting every approved mental health centre at least once a year. The commission, as the Deputy has rightly pointed out, has now published its report on St. Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny, Cavan General Hospital, Naas General Hospital and Clonskeagh hospital. While each premises received...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Mental Health Services Provision (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: The HSE aims for the placement of children in age appropriate mental health settings as much as possible. A 95% target of appropriate placement in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Units is indicated in the National Service Plan 2016. This allows for some operational flexibility surrounding emergency placements in Adult Units. Examples of factors that influence such admissions include...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Mental Health Services Provision (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: The current development of Crisis Houses, and Crisis Intervention Teams, form part of a spectrum of service supports for individuals with a mental illness presenting in crisis. One of the objectives of the HSE Mental Health Division has been to improve the response of mental health services for individuals in such circumstances. This includes accommodation and treatment for an individual in...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Mental Health Policy (2 Jun 2016)

Helen McEntee: In January 2006, the Government adopted the Report of the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy 'A Vision for Change' as the basis for the future development of mental health services in Ireland. It advocated: - A holistic view of mental illness and an integrated multidisciplinary approach to addressing the biological, psychological and social factors that contribute to mental health...