Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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98. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to support the provision of a full complement of child and adolescent places, and child and adolescent mental health service teams for mental health, as recommended in A Vision for Change. [13718/16]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The additional ring-fenced mental health funding of €160 million provided over 2012-16 inclusive, has contributed significantly to implementation ofA Vision for Change(AVFC). Implementation of this policy takes place in the context of annual HSE Service Plans and in line with evolving service priorities and resource availability overall each year. Funding for mental health in 2016 will increase from the 2015 outturn of €785m, to a projected budget of €826m in the 2016 National Service Plan, an increase of €41m or 5.2%, including €35m ring-fenced for new developments this year.

AVFC recommends the provision of 80 additional child and adolescent psychiatric in-patient beds nationally. The HSE Operational Plan for Mental Health 2016 indicates that there are 76 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) beds in the system, of which 66 are operational at present. In the context of expanding CAMHS bed capacity, the HSE is endeavouring at present to address staff recruitment or retention difficulties in certain CAMHS facilities, such as the Eist Linn unit in Cork. As these staffing issues are resolved, the potential exists to increase capacity, whether for in-patient or community based CAMHS care, in line with AVFC.

The issue raised by the Deputy is kept under review by the Department of Health and the HSE.In relation to the costing of existing or planned staffing provisions raised by the Deputy, as this 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.