Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator van Turnhout's analysis is incorrect. Certain services are transferring to the new agency on the establishment day, which we hope will be 1 January 2014. What we are doing in section 8 is clarifying the services that will transfer. The task force recommended that specialist mental health services be considered for inclusion within the remit of the agency. At this stage of the transfer of functions, we are not bringing in public health nurses. The latter are not mentioned specifically in the Bill because they are not coming in as a group. In the case of psychologists, on the other hand, some are transferring over to the agency, where they will have the general function of providing psychological services for children in the community. The specialist services under CAMHS, however, are not transferring on 1 January. It is because some psychologists are transferring that it is necessary to be clear that specialist mental health services, specifically, are not transferring.

The reason they are not transferring is that in the first stage of the development of the agency, we are bringing three agencies together, namely, the National Educational Welfare Board, the Family Support Agency, and the child protection components of the HSE. The vision of the task force was of a broader remit, which would include bringing in public health nurses. We already have 4,000 people transferring, which amounts to the single largest public sector reform we have initiated in terms of transfer of personnel and agency. If we were to transfer all public health nurses who work with children and all of the mental health services, there would be a deal of work to be done in terms of the discussion of that concept, negotiating with other Departments, working out all of the human resources issues and so on. We have taken what we consider the right approach by specifying very clearly in the Bill the functions that are transferring. It is about providing clarity.