James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 394: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the progress made on the programme for Government commitment to invest in and fully implement the Vision for Change strategy; if she will provide further additional funding to support the recovery model of mental health service provision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30031/09]

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The estimated additional cost of the implementation of 'A Vision for Change' the Report of the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy is €150 million over 7 – 10 years. Substantial resources are invested in mental health services; overall spending on these services amounts to an estimated €1 billion. Implementing 'A Vision for Change' is essentially about the reallocation and remodelling of these resources.

Additional funding was provided in 2009 for the recruitment of 35 therapy posts for the child and adolescent mental health service. In addition, once-off funding of €1.75 million was provided for suicide prevention initiatives and for mental health projects supporting service users and carers.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 395: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the progress made on the programme for Government commitment to ringfence funds from the sale of existing mental hospitals, estimated to be approximately €800 million, to fund community based services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30032/09]

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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'A Vision for Change' the Report on the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy recommended that a plan to bring about the closure of all psychiatric hospitals should be drawn up and implemented and that the resources released by these closures should be re-invested in the mental health service. The Departments of Finance and Health and Children have agreed in principle to the release of the proceeds of the disposal of properties prior to 2006 for reinvestment in mental health capital development.

The arrangements for property disposal require Department of Finance approval in each case, the lodging of the proceeds as Exchequer Extra Receipts and the re-voting of the funds for approved projects. Disposals to date amount to over €42 million. A submission from the HSE, detailing the priority projects to be funded from these disposals, is currently under consideration in my Department with a view to submission to the Department of Finance.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 396: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the progress made on the programme for Government commitment to ensure that multidisciplinary community mental health teams provide services based on need in the community, the home and through assertive outreach; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30033/09]

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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'A Vision for Change' the Report of the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy which has been adopted as Government policy, says that to provide an effective community based service, community mental health teams should offer home based treatment and assertive outreach and a comprehensive range of medical psychological therapies relevant to the need of the services users and their families.

In April 2009, the HSE adopted an implementation plan for 'A Vision for Change' for the five year period 2009 - 2013. In addition, a joint research initiative between the Mental Health Commission, the University of Limerick and the HSE to examine the functioning and effectiveness of Community Mental Health Teams (CMHTs) is under way. The HSE will shortly appoint a national lead for mental health which will bring a new impetus to the implementation of 'A Vision for Change'.