Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 643: To ask the Minister for Health his plans to address the shortfall of staff for patients in the mental health services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36146/11]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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This Government is committed to implementing A Vision for Change, the Report of the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy and reforming our model of healthcare delivery so that more and better quality care is delivered in the community. The Programme for Government includes a commitment to ring-fence €35 million annually from within the health budget to develop community mental health teams and services and this is currently being considered as part of the Estimates process for 2012 and future years.

In this regard, I have asked the HSE to prepare an implementation plan, which will identify specific recommendations of A Vision for Change that can be progressed over the next three years, with timelines, detailed costs, structures and identifiable person(s) responsible for driving the change including delivery on the commitments in our Programme for Government. Issues related to staffing levels particularly in community mental health teams will be examined in this context.