Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The difficulty is that we do not have one on the southside, which is the more affluent part of the city. That happens sometimes because of resistance. The type of resistance we are seeing is multifaceted. On the one hand it is a little concerning because people are worried about the transition and the service not being available when they change to a different service. However, if we did not do things every time we got nervous and afraid, then nothing would ever change. I was laughing at Senator MacSharry when he referred to panic attacks and anxiety. I was going to put it to him that he should have been a Minister in this Government during the first 12 months. I could tell him about anxiety and panic attacks. It is about how we live our lives and the awful things that happen to us along the way. We are making progress.

I will tell the Seanad something else and I will be honest about it. It is not an easy task and it has not been an easy task since day one. We launched the A Vision for Change document in 2006. I remember it. Equally, I remember the Planning for the Future document and I still have a copy of it at home. I remember when A Vision for Change was launched and how it was lauded - rightly so - because it a remarkable work. We launched it in 2006 when the country was awash with money. Despite the fact that the other two Ministers of State who had responsibility for this area before me were as committed as I am, for some reason it simply never got done.

We are trying to drive this out at a particularly difficult time. The additional money we are getting is for specific posts. It is not about replacing what is going out. It is a different service in a different area delivered by different people. Central to all of this will be the nursing fraternity. They have done an excellent job in the past. They have been the leaders. I could name people in the service who I stand back and admire because, in some cases, they have gone against their own members and driven this out. It is vital to have such people. We cannot say that they are not doing the job or that it is not important and at the same time expect them to have the enthusiasm to do the job. I recognise that everyone wants this to work. No one wants this to work more than me. I believe everyone wants it to work because it is in everyone's interests that it works. Our attitude towards it needs to be different.

I will provide some figures on jobs because I know I am pushing it at this stage. Recruitment for the posts approved for 2012 and 2013 is continuing. I asked for the figures to be sourced from the central recruitment office rather than either the Department of Health or the HSE. It was a double-check. I received the most recent data from the HSE on the recruitment of these posts. It indicates that at the end of November the recruitment process is completed or is in the final stages for 395 or 95% of the 414 posts approved in 2012. We have a difficulty filling some posts. Of the posts approved in 2013 the recruitment process is completed for 134 or 28%, while 172 or 36% of the posts are in the final stages of the recruitment process. A further 106 or 22% of the posts are at earlier stages, indicating that 412 or 86% of the 2013 allocation has been completed or is in the recruitment process.

There are a number of posts for which there are difficulties in identifying suitable candidates. I have said all this before and it remains the same. There is a particular difficulty with these posts due to factors including availability of qualified candidates and geographic location. However, the remainder are at various stages in the recruitment process. The HSE's national recruitment service is currently working to ensure that the remaining posts will be filled as soon as possible from existing panels or through competition in the absence of panels at the earliest opportunity.

I offer what is only one example because it applies across a range. There are difficulties in recruiting people for forensic psychiatry in the area of childhood and adolescence. Let us suppose an organisation issues a generalised advertisement for recruitment calling for candidates interested in working in psychiatry in the area of child and adolescent mental health. Then, a candidate responds because she has an interest in psychiatry and the associated area. The vacancy is in Donegal. Since the candidate has gone through the process and has been offered the post she gets the vacancy in Donegal, but, in reality, she wants to work in Dingle. If an opportunity comes up or a place becomes available in Dingle, then she has the right to move. That is a major issue for us. Therefore, in certain areas we are developing specialised panels. In other words, it is not a straightforward global catch-all. We will now ask candidates whether they are interested in a given area and whether the post is where they would like it to be. We are developing that type of specialist panel.

The general panel will suit most people. The area where we have a difficulty is with psychologists. This is not just about the medical interaction. We have also given over €7 million to the Irish College of General Practitioners to develop a psychological and counselling service in order that when people go to their GP, which is where most go in the first instance, who are suffering from mild to moderate depression or anxiety, they can be referred on to that service, rather than go through the psychiatrist and the general service available in the area. We have also given the college money to develop training for GPs in the area of suicide.

I agree that the mental health service was always the Cinderella service, the poor relation. I am now being approached by people in the niche areas of the general medical area, for example, head and neck cancer and oral health, as to how they can get on board in terms of what is happening with GPs and the progress we are making in that area. While it is not my area - I have enough without taking on anything else - we are trying to direct them in the way we did it to bring them in. It is clear that other people are trying to catch up. In A Vision for Change, each chapter - child adolescence, suicide prevention, restraints and medication - has had a strategy developed around each particular area. Perhaps I am too idealistic when it comes to how we should approach mental health but in the absence of hope we despair. I really believe we need to give people hope. We have Shine, the anti-stigma organisation. I wear its badge all the time and I find it starts a conversation.

I apologise to the Chair. I am very sorry.