Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

573. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated full year cost of completing the recruitment required for the full implementation of A Vision for Change. [11661/17]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

A Vision For Change, our national Mental Health Policy, was introduced in 2006. Among its recommendations were that approximately 10,650 Mental Health Whole Time Equivalents were required to fully implement the policy.

This figure was based on Ireland’s then population of 3.917 million, as indicated in the 2002 census. The population of Ireland today, based on the most recent confirmed Census figures in 2011, is 4.499 million. Taking into account this demographic change, the required number of Mental Health Whole Time Equivalents is now 12,240.

As of November 2016, there were 9,576 Mental Health Whole Time Equivalents employed, a gap of 2,664. Using an average figure of €66,000 per Whole Time Equivalent, the additional resources required to fill the gap would be €175.8 million per annum.

Since 2012, around €115 million has been added to the HSE Mental Health Budget, which totalled €826 million in 2016. Budget 2017 made allowance for an additional €35 million for services to be initiated in 2017. Recognising the time lag in new staff taking up posts and the completion of preparations for the introduction of these services, it is estimated that the revenue spend in 2017 associated with this increased allocation will be some €15 million. There will also be a further additional spend of €9.5 million in mental health associated with increased pay rates. With other minor adjustments the total budget for mental health in 2017 will be €853.1 million.

Recruitment to meet the needs of our mental health services is therefore underpinned by the increased Budget Allocations in the National Service Plans of recent years, which have progressed the implementation of A Vision For Change. A Vision for Change has guided national mental health policy for the past 10 years and its term came to an end in 2016. The Department of Health recently commissioned an expert evidence review and analysis of national and international best practice in the development and delivery of mental health services. This review of evidence will inform the parameters of a review of A Vision for Change , by identifying sites of best practice and outlining how these models can apply to the Irish context. The evidence review has now been completed and will inform the ongoing review of mental health policy. Consideration is currently being given to establishing an appropriate oversight structure for the mental health policy review process, based on the outcome of the expert review.