Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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578. To ask the Minister for Health the progress being made in advancement of the Youth Mental Health Pathfinder project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4503/20]

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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The proposal to establish a cross-governmental youth mental health Pathfinder team with participation from the Department of Health, the Department of Education & Skills and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs has received Ministerial approval.

The proposal is to formalise a new model for collaborative working within Government on a statutory footing by utilising section 12 of the Public Service Management Act 1997. This section of the 1997 Act has never been used before. Various administrative, budgetary, governance and legal arrangements need to be developed and agreed to ensure a robust and workable model for the Pathfinder unit.

The Department of Health has engaged extensively with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and continues to do so, with the objective of agreeing an implementation option that fully addresses the above issues.