Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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238. To ask the Minister for Health the cost of filling the remaining outstanding posts as recognised in A Vision for Change; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29545/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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The Government is committed to the continued reform of mental health services, notwithstanding the substantial overall reduction in resources available to the health service in recent years. Towards this end, ring-fenced funding of €125 million and some 1,150 posts have been provided since 2012 to develop community mental health services and suicide prevention resources. The budget for mental health services in 2014 is significant at approximately €791.8 million.

A Vision for Change indicates a requirement for 10,647 WTE staff which, when adjusted for the 2011 population census, equates to around 12,240 WTE staff by 2016. However, given the changed economic circumstances since the publication of Visionin 2006, the Government had to reduce the numbers employed across the public service in order to meet fiscal and budgetary targets. While the health sector must make its contribution to that reduction, the HSE can make staff appointments once it remains within its overall employment ceiling, and has the financial resources to do so. In its 2014 Service Plan, the HSE committed to develop workforce planning to bring greater certainty around essential replacements, and the streamlining of recruitment to allow for more local control and specialisation, where appropriate. A National Recruitment Optimisation Group was established in 2014 to improve the process and communications on advancing approval, advertisement and recruitment of all replacement and development posts.

While staffing levels in the mental health service have fallen, there are positives that must be acknowledged. Many of the staff numbers lost were supporting the excessive numbers of beds which are no longer part of the service user, recovery-focused, modern, community-based model for mental health. The overall reduction in numbers has been mitigated due to the priority ring-fenced Programme for Government investments in 2012, 2013 and again in 2014. This has allowed the HSE to begin to re-balance the staff skill mix in mental health and to introduce new staff in the historically under represented disciplines recommended in A Vision for Change, i.e. psychologists, social workers and occupational therapists.

Recruitment of new posts is ongoing. As at end of May 2015, 399.5 or 96% of the 416 posts approved in 2012 and 420.5 or 88% of the 477 posts approved in 2013 have now been filled. Of the 251 posts allocated in 2014, 75 have been recruited of which 63 had started by 31st May, 2015 and a further 78.5 are at various stages of the recruitment process. Allocations for new service developments in 2015 are also due to be finalised in the very near future.