Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this matter, but I am afraid that he will not be very happy with my reply. I am not happy with it and will explain why.

The Government is committed to tackling alcohol misuse in Ireland and the widespread harm and pain it causes. Alcohol is causing significant damage across the population and in workplaces, families and communities and is a substantial burden on everyone in Irish society. Individuals with an addiction to alcohol access the full range of general health services, including primary care, secondary care, social care and mental health services. There are also specific addiction services. People who present for alcohol addiction treatment are offered a range of interventions, namely, initial assessment, comprehensive assessment, the Minnesota programme, brief intervention, individual counselling, self-help, peer support or a combination of these. The delivery of these services is based on the Four Tier model of treatment intervention and services are designed to respond to an individual's specific identified needs.

Responding effectively to the co-existence of substance use and mental health disorders presents a challenge for treatment services in several ways. Among the issues that make treatment complicated are those surrounding the assessment of patients, the types of combination treatment they require and the specific context and settings within which services are provided for them. The HSE has recently established a national clinical programme for co-morbid mental illness and substance misuse. This clinical programme will commence early in 2017 with the aim of recommending a comprehensive model of care to respond to this serious clinical issue. A national working group under the direction of a national clinical lead will be convened to progress this model of care. It will include an examination of residential co-morbid treatment and recovery settings. The existence of problems relating to the treatment and care of individuals with a dual diagnosis is common across European treatment services owing to the separation of mental health and drug use treatment networks. The establishment of the national clinical programme is a major step towards recognising this problem and taking specific steps to deal with it.

The current practice of Galway Mayo and Roscommon CHO Area 2 mental health services is that access to mental health services is via referral by a GP to a consultant-led multi-disciplinary team that will conduct a core assessment and arrange care, as appropriate. This principle applies to all services within our remit, including alcohol addiction services. In line with national policy, CHO Area 2 mental health services will continue to prioritise and respond to people with a co-morbidity of alcohol addiction and mental health problems.

The issue of support for those with an alcohol addiction will also be considered as part of national strategy development, most particularly in developing the new drugs strategy and in the review of A Vision for Change. It is essential to have a public health policy response which seeks to reduce the number engaged in the harmful use of alcohol. The Public Health (Alcohol) Bill contains a package of measures aimed at reducing alcohol consumption in Ireland to 9.1 litres per person per annum, the OECD average in 2012, as well as the harm associated with alcohol. With other measures, the Bill will bring about a cultural shift in how we view and consume alcohol. As a consequence, we will see an improvement in both physical and mental health well-being in the population. The Bill commenced Committee Stage in the Seanad on 26 October and the debate will resume in the next session of the Oireachtas.