Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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762. To ask the Minister for Health the number of the 41 short-term recommendations in the policy Sharing the Vision, A Mental Health Policy for Everyone which have been fully implemented since it was launched; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5537/21]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Sharing the Vision aims to enhance the provision of mental health services and supports across a broad continuum from mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention to acute and specialist mental health service delivery, during the period 2020-2030.

 A ‘whole-of-government’ National Implementation Monitoring Committee (NIMC) with strong service user and voluntary and community sector representation was recently established to oversee the implementation of the recommendations in the policy and to monitor progress.

The NIMC is made up of the NIMC Steering Committee which will be supported by an NIMC Reference Group of Service Users and Families and NIMC Specialist Groups.

The NIMC Steering Committee will drive the implementation of Sharing the Vision and ensure appropriate monitoring and oversight processes are put in place.

The HSE has primary responsibility for the implementation of the majority of the Sharing the Vision recommendations, and is establishing a HSE Implementation Group, which will report to the NIMC Steering Committee.

The ethos of the NIMC is one of partnership, focused on the outcomes achieved for people using mental health services. One of the first tasks of the NIMC, in conjunction with the HSE Implementation Group, will be to ascertain ongoing Sharing the Vision aligned tasks and projects. This work is very much at an early stage. To date, the Steering Committee has met twice, on 11 December 2020 and on 15 January 2021, with meetings scheduled to take place monthly. The minutes of the Steering Committee meetings are available on the Department of Health Website.

In these early stages, the Steering Committee will focus on developing and establishing the structures and processes crucial to a full and successful implementation of the new policy.  I am satisfied that the Committee is progressing well in this initial stage of its work, by building on the following initiatives already underway:

- Many significant recent developments in online mental health service provision and positive mental health promotion have been expedited in the advent of COVID-19. These initiatives exemplify the holistic, whole-of-population approach to mental health service development that Sharing the Vision will be promoting and seeking to advance, in parallel with the development of specialist supports.

- Sharing the Vision recommends the continued implementation of the existing National Clinical Programmes in mental health, including Dual Diagnosis, Early Intervention in psychosis, and Mental Health and Intellectual Disability, by specifying the need for their continued phased implementation and evaluation. The Clinical Programmes are at the heart of service improvement, providing clear pathways in addressing a number of mental health conditions, to ensure strategic, standardised, and evidence-based delivery of services and better outcomes for service users and their families. The Clinical Programmes are currently in various stages of design and implementation.

- Furthermore, to address the issue of funding, I secured an additional €50 million for mental health services in 2021, bringing the annual budget to €1,076 billion. €23 million of this is dedicated to commencing implementation of many of the short-term recommendations of Sharing the Vision.  This includes establishing the new structures required to implement the policy, and the expansion of the clinical care programmes outlined above.

- It will also fund additional mental health bed capacity, enhanced resources for Community Mental Health Teams, CAMHS Hubs/Teams, Adult Crisis Resolution Services, increased supports in employment, Peer Support Workers, Bereavement Co-ordinator, and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, which are specific short term recommendations in the new Policy. Work is progressing in these areas, including the recruitment of the 153 new mental health staff provided for, through 2021 development funding.

- Sharing the Vision additionally recommends that, in keeping with the evolving understanding of human rights to empower people and improve quality of care in mental healthcare facilities, legislation must be updated, and additional supports put in place. As the Deputy may be aware, this is currently being addressed in the review of the Mental Health Act, 2001 which is undergoing a major overhaul, with draft heads of the new bill expected to be published in the very near future.