Maire Devine (Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the Minister of State. As the Minister of State knows, Jigsaw began a national review of its national youth mental health services. The review aimed to report on finance, clinical and governance matters. It is welcome and there is certainly merit in stopping to take stock and examining if things can be done better but there has been a serious problem in the delay of the completion of this report.

To put it into context, my colleague, Deputy Brady, has been in contact with groups in Bray, County Wicklow, which have been working hard to secure a Jigsaw site for many years.Jigsaw has a development procedure and the community has undertaken to ensure it is ready, and indeed it is. Bray has done Trojan work on this. Young people have done the majority of the work. Jigsaw has deemed Bray ready for the service for well over a year now. Action was taken to begin this service in 2012, more than six years ago. In 2017, the HSE advised through parliamentary questions that the 2018 mental health budget would not have any funds for the expansion of Jigsaw services. As Members can imagine, this is disappointing for young people and adults in the communities that have been working tirelessly for the service and have been promised its delivery time and again.

I acknowledge that things take time. However, the review of Jigsaw services was supposed to be published in June. This would allow plenty of time for the findings to influence budget 2019. Recently, it was revealed through a parliamentary question I submitted that the deadline was pushed to September. It now seems the report will not be available until the end of the year. Is the delay in the publication of the review's findings going to be used as a justification for excluding expansion of funding for the mental health budget in 2019? Is Jigsaw still marketing itself as a service that wants to be in every county and does the HSE support this? It is absolutely vital that the Minister of State outlines in her response the reasons for the delay in the publication of the report and her Department's detailed plan for the expansion of Jigsaw services to other areas. We need to inform this House, the adults who have worked for years on this, and most importantly the young people who have committed to developing Bray for this service since 2012 and who so desperately need it.

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Devine. Unfortunately the Minister of State with special responsibility for mental health, Deputy Jim Daly, has asked me to take this Commencement matter as he cannot be here.

Mental health continues to be prioritised by Government within the wider health sector. This has been underpinned by significant new investment annually since 2012. More than €200 million in additional funding has been provided over this period to enhance all aspects of services, thus bringing HSE mental health funding for this year to around €910 million. This is significant by any measure, notwithstanding the need for further investment in the modernisation of services to meet emerging needs and demands.

The HSE funds Jigsaw to provide early intervention mental health services which focus on the needs of young people. Their model provides tangible supports for those with mild or emerging mental health difficulties. There are 13 Jigsaw services in communities across Ireland, underpinned by HSE funding of around €9.8 million last year. In recent years Jigsaw has provided a new service option and approach for the HSE whereby young people can access free and confidential supports from trained mental health professionals. Aside from front-line care, it has been to the fore in tackling wider issues around changing attitudes, raising awareness, reducing stigma and promoting early intervention and recovery. An independent evaluation of the Jigsaw service model was commissioned by the HSE to better understand Jigsaw’s approach to youth mental health and how the service fits alongside other youth mental health services. The evaluation took place between March and July 2018, as has been said. Participants in the evaluation included young people, staff based at the Jigsaw national office and at four local sites in Dublin, Galway, Cork and Kerry and representatives from five community-based mental health organisations.

In addition, Jigsaw data for 2017 was analysed, three online surveys were conducted and relevant literature was reviewed. A delay in the publication of this review arose because the executive wanted to ensure widespread input from the fullest range of stakeholders in the evaluation. The HSE expects to have this process completed by end of this year, as the Senator has stated. Such a review is a normal process for any organisation funded by the HSE and was particularly apt in this case following earlier consolidation of Jigsaw services nationally, thus developing a more formal partnership approach with the executive over recent years.

The Government remains firmly committed to following through on the benefits generated to date by the collaboration between the HSE and Jigsaw. Collectively, they have achieved significant progress over a relatively short period of time, and this detailed review will help clarify how best to meet future challenges and service requirements.

The Minister of State is leading important and wide-ranging changes across mental health legislation, policy and services. These range from updating the Mental Health Act 2001 to refreshing A Vision for Change. The review of Jigsaw should be seen in the broader context of new opportunities and the Senator can rest assured that the Minister of State will continue to liaise closely with the HSE to conclude this review as quickly as possible.

Maire Devine (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State. She will forgive my cynicism. This review was supposed to be commenced in February but only started in March. It has now been pushed out to the end of the year and that is causing concern. Obviously budget 2019 would seem to be an appropriate time to carry out an expansion of the service, particularly for the Bray area, where the community has been site-ready and psychologically ready for the opening of services for young people for many years. I agree that any organisation funded by the HSE must undergo a rigorous audit process, and must be reviewed to find the best way to improve its service. However, we are now ignoring the need for expansion. A report out today from Mental Health Reform shows that the vast majority of people do not believe that the HSE places enough focus on mental health services. Here we have a site that is ready and people who are ready to expand this much-needed service to the Bray area. I am disappointed that it has been pushed to the end of the year, therefore probably falling outside the window of opportunity for funding for expansion.

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I take Senator Devine's concerns on board. I do not know whether the budget is part of the reason it has been postponed or pushed out to the end of the year. I am not 100% sure about that so I cannot answer. I would like to acknowledge the work Jigsaw does. I know the work that is done on the ground by Jigsaw, having been in some of the counties around the country where it operates. I heard a conversation about mental health services in this country on the radio this morning. More than €910 million is being put into the services. I hope that will continue, because we need to focus on young people and mental health, particularly in communities. We must bring mental health services back into the community so that young people can be assessed in the community where they live. I will bring Senator Devine's concerns to the Minister of State.