Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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334. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide details of psychiatric services available in County Waterford, including the availability of community psychiatric services; if he will provide a breakdown of the provision of counselling in primary care and suicide crisis assessment nurses in emergency departments, in the community and in out-of-hours crisis services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16792/15]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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335. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide the details of waiting lists for psychiatric services available in County Waterford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16793/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 334 and 335 together.

Since coming into office, this Government has prioritised the reform and resourcing of our mental health services in line with the recommendations in A Vision for Change. Additional funding totalling €125 million has been provided primarily to strengthen Community Mental Health Teams for both adults and children and to enhance specialist community mental health services for older people with a mental illness, those with an intellectual disability and mental illness, and forensic mental health services.

The Government, in keeping with its commitment in the Programme for Government to increase access to counselling and psychotherapy, has provided funding totalling €7.5 million to develop the Counselling in Primary Care (CIPC) service, which works closely with the HSE Mental Health Service, under whose aegis this funding is provided.

The Suicide Crisis Assessment Nursing Service (SCAN) provides a skilled mental health nursing service to Primary Care that provides an accessible and quick response to GP requests for a timely assessment of those in suicide/self harm distress. At present there are 12 nurses working in the service in Wexford, Galway, Waterford, Cork North Lee, Dublin North, Tallaght/Dublin West/South West, Sligo, Donegal, and Laois. It is envisaged that 8 additional assignments will be made to support the current service.

As part of the investment in mental health in 2013, 35 posts were identified to provide for the implementation of the Clinical Programme to address self-harm presentations in emergency departments. Currently 23 of these posts are in place and the remainder are in the recruitment process.

Acute mental health services are delivered on a 24/7 basis. A Vision for Changerecommends that, as part of community secondary care provision, there should be a crisis house available in each catchment area. A number of mental health services have provided crisis houses as part of their community residential provision and, as the mental health services move away from the provision of low and medium support community residences, opportunities to provide the crisis house model will be explored. In other areas, respite arrangements are in place to address the emergency needs of service users. In the Service Plan this year the HSE Mental Health Division has committed to developing weekend services for existing vulnerable patients attending the mental health services who would benefit from contact over the weekend.

In relation to details of the specific services which are available in Waterford and the numbers on waiting lists, as these are service issues the question has been referred for the HSE for direct reply to the Deputy. If you have not received a reply within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.