Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 510: To ask the Minister for Health the action he will take to enhance services for persons with eating disorders; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that VHI and Aviva will not provide cover with regard to a centre (details supplied) in Dublin 13, which treats persons with eating disorders; his views regarding same; if his further attention has been drawn to the fact that the Health Service Executive has referred persons to this centre, although no funding is provided towards this treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24938/11]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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HSE services for people with eating disorders are embedded in the Community Mental Health Service and with Primary Care. Individuals with eating disorders frequently present to the primary care practitioner with complications of their condition and early intervention at this level greatly improves outcomes. The HSE has developed a Mental Health in Primary Care accredited training programme for primary care practitioners with Dublin City University with a view to enhancing the capacity of primary care to recognise, assess and treat a range of mental illnesses within the primary care setting.

Community based Adult Mental Health Services receive referrals from Primary Care and provide assessment and treatment to individuals with eating disorders; Child and Adolescent Mental Health Teams provide a similar role for their cohort of referrals. Where the individual's psychiatric or medical needs are more acute, in-patient admission is offered within the local psychiatric services or acute medical care where necessary.

The HSE can and has worked with service providers in the independent sector to provide specialised care, on an in-patient and/or an out-patient basis. In a limited number of cases, referrals to specialised eating disorder services in Dublin or the UK can be clinically recommended and supported in appropriate circumstances, subject to the necessary resources being available.

The situation with regard to services that are covered by private health insurance is that each private health insurance provider in the Irish Market, currently Aviva Health, Quinn Healthcare and VHI Healthcare, has the right to determine which health care providers they will cover for the benefit of their customers. The right to this determination is provided for in the Health Insurance Act 1994 (Minimum Benefit) Regulations, 1996. Health insurers operating in a commercial market may choose the providers they cover and it is a matter for each insurer to determine how much capacity in any particular area is required by them to deliver the services required by their members. The definition of "prescribed health services" in the 1996 Minimum Benefit Regulations excludes health services relating to eating disorders or weight reduction. Therefore there is no obligation on private health insurance providers to provide insurance cover for this type of treatment.

My Department does not have a role to play in relation to whether the insurers would cover the services offered by any particular provider.