Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

236. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to replace A Vision for Change policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29543/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

A Vision for Change,which was published in 2006,providesa seven-to-ten year framework for the development of our mental health services. 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.

Implementation of Visionis ongoing and work will be undertaken during 2015 to prioritise outstanding actions informing the identification of any gaps in service. The additional €35 million provided for mental health in Budget 2015 will be directed towards the continued prioritised development and reconfiguration of Community Mental Health teams. In addition, the funding will also permit urgent specialist needs to be addressed, including psychiatric intensive care, forensic mental health, mental health intellectual disability care, and psychiatric liaison services.

A Vision for Change contained a commitment that it would be reviewed after 7 years. It was decided to give priority to the review of the Mental Health Act 2001, after which consideration would again be given to reviewing Vision.The Expert Group which I set up to review the Mental Health Act 2001 has now completed its work and preliminary work on the development of a successor policy to A Vision for Changeis under way and the parameters of a review will be agreed as soon as possible.