Nicky McFadden (Fine Gael)

I wish to comment on the announcement that 73 employees are to be let go by Kildare County Council and on the fact that others throughout the country are also being made redundant. I accept that we will debate this matter tomorrow but I wish to raise it here because yesterday was the third anniversary of the publication of A Vision for Change. I am concerned, in a roundabout way, with budgets and the fact that Kildare County Council may have been told to make redundant the people to whom I refer. The council has not been given a budget; nor has the Health Service Executive. How can any of these organisations make plans and provide leadership to their employees if they do not have budgets?

The Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, Deputy Moloney, was extremely modest when discussing A Vision for Change. He held his hands up and stated that implementation has been far too slow. Senators Corrigan and Prendergast raised this matter on several occasions and stated that mental health is the poor relation within the area of health. All of the money obtained from the sale of real estate is being ploughed back into the big black hole that is the HSE and not into the services where it is required most, namely, those relating to mental health. Despite the major problems in the context of drug abuse, eating disorders and so on, there are only 30 beds available for adolescents throughout the entire country. I accept that this is an improvement. However, money should be ploughed back into the system to improve matters further in the area of mental health services.

I met a mental health provider last evening who informed me that people are being transferred from the psychiatric services at Naas General Hospital to St. Loman's in Mullingar at 5 p.m. each day because the hospital is not able to cater for all of the people coming in from Dublin. The staff at St. Loman's are then expected to treat the individuals to whom I refer in a loving and nurturing way. There is no joined-up thinking in respect of this matter. The Leader should arrange a debate, as a matter of urgency, on A Vision for Change and the delay relating to its implementation.