Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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271. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated for the cost of providing 80 additional child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient beds. [12077/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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A Vision for Change' recommends the provision of 80 additional child and adolescent psychiatric in-patient beds nationally. Currently, there are 66 operational Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service ( CAMHS ) beds in the HSE, i.e. beds available to take a child/adolescent as an in-patient if the need arises. These beds are located as follows - 34 in Dublin, 20 in Galway and 12 in Cork.

In the context of expanding CAMHS bed capacity, the HSE is endeavouring at present to address staff recruitment or retention difficulties in certain facilities, such as the Eist Linn unit in Cork. As these staffing issues are resolved, the potential exists for an overall national capacity of 76 operational CAMHS beds in the system.

On the broader front, funding is included in the HSE Capital Programme for planned infrastructural developments for the National Forensic Mental Health Service. This involves a new 120 bed hospital at Portrane, to replace the existing Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, along with a new 10-bed CAMHS Forensic Unit, and a 10 bed facility for children with Mental Health and Intellectual Disability issues. These facilities are scheduled to be delivered in 2018.

The question of providing additional CAMHS bed provision, in line with A Vision for Change and overall resources availability annually, will be kept under review by the Department of Health and the HSE. As the cost issue raised by the Deputy is service specific, this has been referred to the HSE for direct reply. 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.