Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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68. To ask the Minister for Health the status of progress on the rollout of improvements to perinatal mental health services capacity; and if he has satisfied himself that these improvements are being rolled out with the necessary urgency in view of the fact death by suicide is the leading cause of direct and late maternal death here [27659/17]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Perinatal Mental Health is recognised as a priority by the Health Service Executive Mental Health Division. In 2016, work commenced on scoping the need for Perinatal Mental Health Services nationally. In 2017 this prioritisation has continued, with the HSE's National Service Plan 2017 setting out as one of its priority aims the design and development of perinatal mental health services capacity.

A Multidisciplinary Working Group with Service User input was established in late 2016 and its report is due by end of June 2017.

This report will cover the specialist component of what should be an overall HSE cross-divisional approach to perinatal mental health services. The focus of the perinatal specialist component includes maternity liaison teams, specialist perinatal mental health teams, mother and baby units and the interface with secondary care mental health services (general adult psychiatry community mental health teams).

The Mental Health Division committed in the National Service Plan 2017 to starting specialist perinatal mental health services in Cork and Limerick. There has been some funding allocated from the additional government funding granted in 2016 for this purpose.

I am referring the remainder of this question to the HSE for direct reply as it is a service issue.