Mental Health Services Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-24 ============================================================ Mary Butler (FF), Waterford I also issue a céad míle fáilte roimh páistí na Gaelscoile. They are very welcome here today with Senator Shane Curley. I thank Senator Clonan for raising this important matter in the House. I also thank him for his constant advocacy for people with disabilities, including intellectual disabilities. Expanded access to specialist mental health services, including the national clinical programme for mental health intellectual disability, is a priority for me. It is estimated that four in every ten people with intellectual disabilities can experience a mental illness in their lifetimes. The HSE developed the national clinical programme for mental health intellectual disability to better support people with intellectual disabilities with their mental health. I launched that model of care in 2021 with the objective of improving mental health service experiences and outcomes for people with intellectual disabilities. I stand here as the Minister of State who has had responsibility for mental health since 2020 and as a Minister of State for whom the glass is always half full as opposed to half empty. In 2020, there were 220 teams across Ireland for mental health. There are now 285. By any yardstick, funding of 65 additional teams has to be acknowledged. There were services for mental health intellectual disability in place already but the process of developing teams began with the formation of several small teams around the country. Under the model of care, there should be 31 adult teams and 16 children’s teams nationally. It is a specialist adult mental health service, with clinicians who have the appropriate training and experience to assess and treat people with mental health intellectual disability, taking into account their specific needs. As per the model, teams should include psychiatrists, clinical nurse specialists, speech and language therapists, social workers and occupational therapists. All professionals on each team work with the individual and family or caregiver to develop holistic care plans that meet their wishes and needs and provide evidence-based interventions to achieve the best outcomes. The mental health intellectual disability national clinical programme is being implemented through the development of multidisciplinary teams on a phased or incremental basis. There are now 30 teams of various sizes in place: 20 adult teams and ten child and adolescent mental health service, CAMHS, teams. Parallel to that, I have put in place clinical programmes for ADHD, with 11 teams funded across the country; eating disorders, with 14 teams funded across the country; dual diagnosis; early intervention in psychosis; and mental health with intellectual disabilities. One of the decisions I took over the past two years was to look at the postcode lottery and, instead of putting a full team into one area, having starter teams in two different areas. I speak to clinicians, consultants and the college of psychiatry, and we all know that the most important part of that team is the consultant psychiatrist, with the admin supports. It is great to have the multidisciplinary approach and that is what I am trying to get to, but I have funded consultant psychiatrists in starter teams. I will get three consultant psychiatrists for €1 million. I will get a whole team for €1 million but I want to get the services into as many areas as possible. That is why we have 20 teams in place for adults and ten for children. I am conscious of the challenges for children with intellectual disabilities and for adults living at home with intellectual disabilities. I funded 15 posts this year. I will fund, please God, more posts next year. I have to build the models of care not only across intellectual disabilities but across six or seven definitions at the same time. That is what I try to do. I try to do a little every year. Fifteen posts this year would have cost in excess of €2.5 million. It is recurring funding. It is not if and when; it is embedded in the base. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-24/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:06+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-06-24