Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, to the House.

Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach for taking this motion today. While I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, I am very disappointed that the Minister of State with responsibility for this sector, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, is not here today. It would nearly encourage me to postpone the issue completely. As a former Minister of State, I took many Adjournment motions in the Dáil and Seanad and I appreciate that people can be out of the country. I hope we will get a vehicle to raise this vital matter again.

The matter is the future of services for people in Roscommon who are suffering psychiatric problems. The Rosalie unit in Castlerea which accommodates people with psychiatry of older life issues is threatened and the future of the high support hostel at Knockroe, Castlerea is unclear. Staffing levels at the acute psychiatric unit remain a concern for staff. The issue has been raised by Councillor Paschal Fitzmaurice in Castlerea and Councillor Orla Leyden. Both have campaigned very strongly on the issue and have made very coherent arguments.

Councillor Fitzmaurice has criticised particularly the HSE's plans to close the unit in Castlerea and many community mental health facilities in Counties Roscommon and Galway. The plans by the Government and the HSE to evict these voiceless and vulnerable people from the Rosalie unit are a disgrace. With many people voicing opposition to this closure including nurses and doctors the Government must listen to the people of the county. I agree totally with Councillor Fitzmaurice in that regard. He has submitted very detailed documentation outlining what is happening on the ground in Roscommon.

Councillor Orla Leyden has also issued a statement in this regard and has attended meetings with the programme directors in Roscommon, but has not got any satisfactory response. She said that over the last year, bit-by-bit psychiatric services in the area are being pulled apart. The Minister of State at the Department of Health with special responsibility for primary care, social care, disabilities and older people, and mental health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, needs to explain why the Government is continuing to tear apart psychiatric services in County Roscommon where day-care services are being dismantled and are under threat.

The Rosalie unit in Castlerea which accommodates people with psychiatry of older life issues is threatened and the future of the high support hostel at Knockroe, Castlerea is unclear. Staffing levels at the acute psychiatric unit remain a concern for staff. That unit was opened when the Government closed the large psychiatric unit in Castlerea, which is now a prison. The service was provided in a hotel that was bought at the time. It has served very effectively since and many extensions have been added on.

The Roscommon Peoplerecently carried a report about one of the Minister of State's colleagues. It stated:

Senator John Kelly has threatened to quit the Labour Party over the crisis in mental health services in County Roscommon.

The Ballaghaderreen man's shock declaration follows a "stormy" meeting he had with Junior Health Minister Kathleen Lynch, his party colleague, last Thursday, over his concerns about local psychiatric services.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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The Senator should stick to the matter.

Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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It is part of the matter under consideration. That is why I was particularly anxious for the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to be here to respond to the questions allegedly raised with her by Senator Kelly.It would be preferable for a member of the Labour Party to stay within the Labour Party and fight for services instead of opting out, taking the easy option and fighting from the sidelines. He or she could fight from within the parliamentary party and try to get the results the people of Roscommon want.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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The Senator is making political charges that have nothing to do with the issue.

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I am taking this today on behalf of my colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, who sends her apologies and very much regrets she cannot attend to take the Commencement Matter.

Despite severe financial pressures we have provided significant additional funding of €125 million since 2012 to enable the HSE to implement the long overdue modernisation of our mental health services, in line with A Vision for Change. Similar to elsewhere, Galway-Roscommon mental health services are committed to full implementation of A Vision for Change. The HSE appointed an expert group to review local community mental health services. The group's report was published in June 2014 and focused on residential care settings and resources across both counties. The key goal was to make recommendations that would ensure service users can maximise their full potential and improve the quality of their lives.

The HSE in the Galway-Roscommon administrative area provides an inpatient and community mental health service for a population of 314,000. They are at an advanced stage in the implementation of A Vision for Change and have already moved into population sectors of 50,000, appointed team co-ordinators and developed an overarching clinical governance model. The area has six general adult team sectors, which are clinically led by two consultant psychiatrists, and a multi-disciplinary team as highlighted in A Vision for Change. Each sector has its own unique service needs based on identified population, age groups, culture or other factors. There are 12 consultant general adult psychiatrists across the two counties, which again is in line with A Vision for Change.

Recent initiatives include the development of a psychiatry of later life team, the provision of an intensive home treatment team for Roscommon and the opening of an adolescent day hospital for the region. Galway-Roscommon mental health services have also been successful in securing significant additional new staff posts through development funding since 2012, of which the bulk are now in place and the remaining posts well advanced through recruitment. These include additional consultants in the areas of general adult community mental health teams, psychiatry of later life teams and rehabilitation and recovery teams. Allied staff include occupational therapists, community mental health nurses and social workers.

Key to modernising services in line with current and future demand and best international practice is reorientation from a hospital and bed-based focus to developing structures and processes required for enhanced community based provision. Any decisions in respect of the individual services highlighted by the Senator can only be addressed in the context of the wider ongoing service change I have outlined. It is worth noting also, as indicated on several occasions recently by the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, that HSE West has, overall, a higher per capitainvestment in mental health than the national average.

Every effort has been, and will continue to be, made to achieve change on a partnership basis, involving many different stakeholders on a national or local level and taking into account all genuine concerns relating to best operational practice. Above all, the changes being implemented, which are so essential to mental health services, are keeping to the fore the best interests of the service user, particularly in terms of improved avenues for early intervention and recovery. The Government will continue with the policy of modernising our mental health services with a view to providing the best possible service for those who need it.

Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister has not responded to any of the questions put forward by me or Councillors Fitzmaurice and Leyden. Senator Kelly should consider his position in light of this reply but I hope we get the opportunity to have a more detailed debate with the Minister in this House in the near future. We may also rely on requests under freedom of information or other sources to get information from this Government.

The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, is not carrying out her responsibilities to the people of the west and she is washing her hands of this particular issue. I am disgusted with the response and disappointed with the way this matter is being dealt with. The voiceless people who are being supposedly cared for are being neglected and thrown out in society without any support whatsoever. It is a blight on this Government and we are not finished with this yet.

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I do not accept the Senator's last comments. I do not know whether he supports the policy of A Vision for Change but this Government does and is implementing it. It has put in over €125 million since 2012 and additional investments-----

Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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It is not the vision for change that was envisaged.

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The Senator either supports A Vision for Change or he does not.

Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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The Government does not support it.

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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He does not accept the additional €125 million that has been invested in the mental health sector since 2012. I support A Vision for Change. There has been a large investment in mental health services in the west, as indicated in the Minister of State's statement today, and I look forward to the implementation of A Vision for Change.