Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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294. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to establish a national advocacy service for mental health clients under 18 years of age and any expected funding this service might require. [12101/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Expert Group Review of the Mental Health Act 2001, which was published in 2015, recognises that children and adolescents detained under the Mental Health Act 2001 are in a particularly vulnerable situation and that it is appropriate that they be given every support. On that basis the Group members recommend that children, their families and/or guardians should have advocacy services available to them. This recommendation, like all others in the Report, is being examined in the context of the preparation of the General Scheme of an amending Bill which is underway at present.

Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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295. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to extend the regulation and inspection of community-based mental health care services and any expected costs this might incur. [12102/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that the Inspector of Mental Health Services may already visit and inspect at any time any Approved Centre registered under the 2001 Act, or other premises where mental health services are being provided.

The future role of the Inspectorate, particularly in the context of inspection, was examined by the Expert Group Review of the Mental Health Act 2001 which was published in 2015 and which highlighted the need for Inspectorates to be flexible in order to more appropriately deal with the increasingly crosscutting nature of service provision. The development of a risk based approach to inspection to ensure maximum effectiveness and efficiency in the use of scarce resources was also identified by the Expert Group.

The Group, on this basis, recommended that inspections of approved centres should be proportionate, based on risk and should take place at least once every three years. This may require annual inspections if the risk profile merits such scrutiny. In addition, the Group recommended that community services should be registered and inspected at reasonable intervals using a risk based system starting with all community mental health teams.

Work is ongoing at official level in drawing up the General Scheme of an amending mental health bill to reflect the recommendations of the Expert Group in revised legislation. The recommendations relating to future inspection will form part of the General Scheme.