John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 170: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the plans which are in place for persons currently in full-time care in St. Brigid's Hospital in Ardee and not fit to live in the community after the hospital's closure; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17076/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Report of the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy, "A Vision for Change", which was published on 24 January 2006, recommends that plans be drawn up for the closure of all mental hospitals. The closure of large mental hospitals and the move to modern units attached to general hospitals, together with the expansion of community services, has been Government policy since the publication of Planning for the Future in 1984.

In "A Vision for Change", a four-stage process is recommended for the closure of the hospitals, as follows: Stage 1 — identify measures required to enable admission to cease and put these measures in place; Stage 2 — cease admission to the hospital and draw up plans for relocations of existing patients; Stage 3 — implement plans for the relocation of existing patients; and Stage 4 — the final closure of the hospital. The recommendations in the Report have been accepted by Government as the basis for the future development of our mental health services.

The Health Service Executive has stated that it anticipates the closure of mental hospitals and the reinvestment of the proceeds to take place on a phased basis. It has also emphasised that hospitals can only close when the clinical needs of the remaining patients have been addressed in more appropriate settings such as additional community residences, day hospitals and day centres together with a substantial increase in the number of well trained, fully staffed, community-based multidisciplinary Community Mental Health Teams as is recommended in a "A Vision for Change".

The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the parliamentary affairs division of the executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.