Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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1322. To ask the Minister for Health the number of posts recommended in A Vision for Change and the number of posts filled in CAHMS by the following Departments: Psychiatry, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Speech & Language Therapy, Psychology, Social Care, Social Work and Dietetics, respectively. [29196/25]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware that Sharing the Vision (StV) 2020-2030 is our current national mental health policy, which has replaced the previous policy A Vision for Change (AVFC).

I recently published the new StV Implementation Plan 2025-2027, which is available on the Department of Health website. StV has various specific recommendations relating to Youth Mental Health, including the specialist Child and Adolescent Mental health Services (CAMHS). StV is less prescriptive that AVFC and allows greater flexibility to plan and deliver all Youth Mental Health services, including CAMHS, to best meet evolving service needs at local level. I am glad to say that good progress is being made overall on implementation of StV, with implementation status progress reports regularly published online by the Department of Health.

It is a priority for me, and for Government, to ensure that children who need services can access them and access them on time. This is in line with Sharing the Vision, our suicide reduction strategy Connecting for Life, and the HSE Annual Service Plan 2025.

Year-on-year funding for mental health services increased from €1.3 billion announced in Budget 2024 to almost €1.5 billion in 2025. This represents a 10.7% annual increase. CAMHS nationally receives approximately €167 million annually, with a further €110 million provided to NGOs, many of which focus on youth mental health. Under Budget 2025, an additional €2.9 million will support CAMHS to increase core staffing, develop a new CAMHS Emergency Liaison Service and expand CAMHS Hubs to improve crisis cover for services.

CAMHS is a secondary care specialist service for those aged up to 18 years, who have a moderate to severe mental health difficulty. Access to CAMHS is on the basis of prioritised clinical assessment, in line with the CAMHS Operational Guidelines which are available on the HSE website. All referrals to CAMHS are assessed by a multidisciplinary team. Approximately 2% of the population require support from this specialist service with over 90% of mental health needs requiring treatment in a primary care setting.

I established the National Office for Child and Youth Mental Health in the HSE to improve leadership and all aspects of care across youth mental health. The Office published its new Youth Mental Health Action Plan in February last. This ambitious plan for comprehensive reform across all youth mental health services, including the specialist CAMHS service, will deliver services which are safer, effective, easier to access and which offers appropriate support at all levels when needed.

The three-year Plan sets out a clear roadmap for the Department and HSE to ensure children and families have equitable and timely access to high-quality mental health care, including better links with Primary Care and Disability Services, and greater use of e-mental health responses. My aim is that services will be better connected and easier to navigate, with increased focus on the rights of young people and their families. A key objective of the Action Plan, is the delivery of a comprehensive recruitment and retention approach for child and youth mental health services. This approach will ensure investment in, and the development of, robust retention and focused recruitment strategies.

In addition to the above, Recommendation 75 of StV indicates that the organisation of mental health services should be aligned with emerging integrated care structures under Sláintecare reforms including those under the six new Regional Health Areas and those within the community. The HSE is transitioning to the Health Regions structure, led by the Regional Executive Officers. These reconfigured structures will support integrated management of the clinical workforce, with single lines of accountability, across hospital and community settings to meet population needs.

Recommendation 76 of StV relates to a re-balancing of resources and takes account of population. New reporting arrangements are being progressed to empower local decision-making and support population-based service planning and the integration of community and acute care, in line with Sláintecare. HSE Health Regions will create an organisational structure that aligns corporate and clinical governance at regional level, within a strong national context, thereby enabling better coordination and improved performance across health and social care services. A key focus for the StV Implementation Plan 2025-2027 will be to ensure greater equity of allocation of resourcing across and within regions, reflecting population need. This will involve taking account of demographics, socioeconomic factors and other relevant variables.

I recently commenced a series of visits to all HSE Regional Health Areas to meet with the Regional Executive Officers and their staff to focus on improvements to all aspects of Youth Mental Health care, to identify areas where increased activity is needed, and also areas of innovative and positive service delivery. This includes improving access and reducing CAMHS waiting lists particularly for those waiting over 12 months. I have stressed also, the importance of filling all approved posts for each CAMHS team to ensure the effective delivery of services.

In addition to the above, the Department of Health and the HSE regularly review progress on service improvements for Mental Health, including for Youth Mental Health and CAMHS.

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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1323. To ask the Minister for Health the Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) staff hours recommended in A Vision for Change and the Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) staff hours filled in CAHMS by the following Departments: Psychiatry, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Speech & Language Therapy, Psychology, Social Care, Social Work and Dietetics, respectively. [29197/25]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware that Sharing the Vision (StV) 2020-2030 is our current national mental health policy, which has replaced the previous policy A Vision for Change (AVFC).

I recently published the new StV Implementation Plan 2025-2027, which is available on the Department of Health website. StV has various specific recommendations relating to Youth Mental Health, including the specialist Child and Adolescent Mental health Services (CAMHS). StV is less prescriptive that AVFC and allows greater flexibility to plan and deliver all Youth Mental Health services, including CAMHS, to best meet evolving service needs at local level. I am glad to say that good progress is being made overall on implementation of StV, with implementation status progress reports regularly published online by the Department of Health.

It is a priority for me, and for Government, to ensure that children who need services can access them and access them on time. This is in line with Sharing the Vision, our suicide reduction strategy Connecting for Life, and the HSE Annual Service Plan 2025.

Year-on-year funding for mental health services increased from €1.3 billion announced in Budget 2024 to almost €1.5 billion in 2025. This represents a 10.7% annual increase. CAMHS nationally receives approximately €167 million annually, with a further €110 million provided to NGOs, many of which focus on youth mental health. Under Budget 2025, an additional €2.9 million will support CAMHS to increase core staffing, develop a new CAMHS Emergency Liaison Service and expand CAMHS Hubs to improve crisis cover for services.

CAMHS is a secondary care specialist service for those aged up to 18 years, who have a moderate to severe mental health difficulty. Access to CAMHS is on the basis of prioritised clinical assessment, in line with the CAMHS Operational Guidelines which are available on the HSE website. All referrals to CAMHS are assessed by a multidisciplinary team. Approximately 2% of the population require support from this specialist service with over 90% of mental health needs requiring treatment in a primary care setting.

I established the National Office for Child and Youth Mental Health in the HSE to improve leadership and all aspects of care across youth mental health. The Office published its new Youth Mental Health Action Plan in February last. This ambitious plan for comprehensive reform across all youth mental health services, including the specialist CAMHS service, will deliver services which are safer, effective, easier to access and which offers appropriate support at all levels when needed.

The three-year Plan sets out a clear roadmap for the Department and HSE to ensure children and families have equitable and timely access to high-quality mental health care, including better links with Primary Care and Disability Services, and greater use of e-mental health responses. My aim is that services will be better connected and easier to navigate, with increased focus on the rights of young people and their families. A key objective of the Action Plan, is the delivery of a comprehensive recruitment and retention approach for child and youth mental health services. This approach will ensure investment in, and the development of, robust retention and focused recruitment strategies.

In addition to the above, Recommendation 75 of StV indicates that the organisation of mental health services should be aligned with emerging integrated care structures under Sláintecare reforms including those under the six new Regional Health Areas and those within the community. The HSE is transitioning to the Health Regions structure, led by the Regional Executive Officers. These reconfigured structures will support integrated management of the clinical workforce, with single lines of accountability, across hospital and community settings to meet population needs.

Recommendation 76 of StV relates to a re-balancing of resources and takes account of population. New reporting arrangements are being progressed to empower local decision-making and support population-based service planning and the integration of community and acute care, in line with Sláintecare. HSE Health Regions will create an organisational structure that aligns corporate and clinical governance at regional level, within a strong national context, thereby enabling better coordination and improved performance across health and social care services. A key focus for the StV Implementation Plan 2025-2027 will be to ensure greater equity of allocation of resourcing across and within regions, reflecting population need. This will involve taking account of demographics, socioeconomic factors and other relevant variables.

I recently commenced a series of visits to all HSE Regional Health Areas to meet with the Regional Executive Officers and their staff to focus on improvements to all aspects of Youth Mental Health care, to identify areas where increased activity is needed, and also areas of innovative and positive service delivery. This includes improving access and reducing CAMHS waiting lists particularly for those waiting over 12 months. I have stressed also, the importance of filling all approved posts for each CAMHS team to ensure the effective delivery of services.

In addition to the above, the Department of Health and the HSE regularly review progress on service improvements for Mental Health, including for Youth Mental Health and CAMHS.