There is not.

I thank the Senator for his constant advocacy for mental health in his own area and in general too. It is not the first time he has raised these issues with me. As he knows, the development of all aspects of mental health, in line with our national policy, Sharing the Vision, remains a priority for me and for Government. This includes CAMHS, which receives around €137 million in dedicated funding annually. I was delighted yesterday to increase the budget for mental health to almost €1.3 billion. On the day of last …

A significant conversation needs to be had because we have 75 CAMHS teams but not all of them are fully staffed. Some of them have more capacity than others. I have spoken to many parents and they said to me that they do not mind driving for an extra 20 or 30 minutes if they know the child will receive the supports. There are a lot of conversations to be had. I had a series of round-table meetings just before the summer recess and brought all the stakeholders in to decide what we could do. As for two of the things …

I am pleased to be here for my fourth budget as Minister of State with responsibility for mental health and older people. I am pleased to announce that more than €2.6 billion has been allocated to further enhance older persons' services in budget 2024, which is an increase of €158 million on the amount announced on budget day last year. This includes more than €45 million additional funding for long-term residential care in nursing homes, public, private and voluntary. This funding will support nursing homes to mai…

-----for people with mental health conditions, people with dementia and older people. Carers play an invaluable role every day of the week.

I thank the Senator for his question. Everybody in both this House and the Dáil is in agreement about the absolute necessity of the national children's hospital and the important role it will play for many young children and their families. I can understand, and hear in his voice, the Senator’s frustration at again raising this issue in the House. He raised it in March 2022 and he is now back with it again. The new children's hospital project is the largest health capital project in the history of the State. It wil…

I thank Senator Byrne and all the other Senators for their contributions on this matter. I acknowledge that the NCH project has faced extensive challenges. It is an extremely ambitious and complex project. It has faced unanticipated delays and it has been impacted by costs outside of the original budget. However, after months of engagement with the main contractor, BAM, a comprehensive programme for completion was received by the NPHDB on 18 July. The Senator is correct that in the last 12 months BAM only achieved …

I thank the Senator for his question. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has asked me to thank him for raising this important issue for discussion in the House. She had a meeting this morning with one of the disability providers and she did not want to have to change it so I am taking this matter on her behalf. I also compliment the Senator, as Cathaoirleach of the Oireachtas committee, on its great work in respect of autism. It was really important having that specific committee. The Joint Committee on Health…

I thank the Senator for that. The NTPF is tasked primarily with reducing waiting times for inpatient day-case treatment. As part of my role as the Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for mental health and older people, we looked at this specifically in relation to mental health to see whether it could work for us. What we are learning is it would be very cumbersome to try to work it out. It works really well for somebody who is waiting 11 months to have his or her hip done. That person…

I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. Like the Senator, I am a great fan of youth clubs and organisations. They provide young people with a chance to develop and grow, particularly in self-confidence and empathy. They give young people an opportunity to succeed on their own merits and they provide supports for all young people, particularly for those who are disadvantaged. Especially from my brief, for those who might suffer from anxiety or emotional distress, they are fantastic. As Members are awa…

As the Senator said, the benefits to young people of engagement with youth clubs and youth work are many, from making friends and trying new activities to meeting a youth worker or volunteer - the one good adult - who can make a huge difference in a young person’s life. Youth workers support young people to stay in school, engage in pro-social behaviour and become contributing members of their communities. Officials in the Minister’s Department are currently reviewing the delivery of youth services and are developi…

To undermine.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which is a matter of major concern to the individuals involved. Patient choice of doctor has been, and continues to be, a bedrock principle of the general medical services, GMS scheme. For the vast majority of individuals, their choice of doctor is accommodated and they are registered on the GMS panel of their doctor of choice. In 2022, which was the last full year of data available, out of a total of about 348,000 individuals who were approved for either a GP visit card o…

I probably should have read the concluding statement first because it contains better news. I again thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I appreciate the concern and the issues he has raised, with which I am familiar. While some persons may have been advised recently that the primary care reimbursement service, PCRS, would no longer assign any medical card holders or GP visit card holders to a GP or general medical services, GMS, panel, as per the previous practice, following the short period whereby urgent assi…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I welcome the opportunity to discuss day centres because they are such an important provision for older people. Almost 300 day centres are currently back in operation. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we did a risk assessment of each day centre the length and breadth of the country to ensure they were complying with infection prevention and control measures. It is great to see that. In the next two weeks, I will be in the Deputy's constituency when I will open the M…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta. Every week I see the importance of and the vital role played by community support in helping older people to stay living at home independently and to age in place in their communities. If one speaks to anybody in Ireland, all they want to do is to be able to remain at home for as long as possible. I am very proud, being Minister of State with responsibility for mental health and older people, of the fact that Ireland has the highest life expectancy in the whole of the EU, as deemed…

The Mental Health Commission report is a welcome contribution to a common objective of improving CAMHS services. As the Deputy will be aware, and as I have said previously, when Dr. Susan Finnerty and the Mental Health Commission informed me last year that they were about to look at CAMHS, I asked them to expand their review. I also funded what was necessary in this case. I welcome the reports. Of the 49 recommendations, many are already being progressed under work streams arising from the Sharing the Vision Implem…

I will address a couple of points. The Deputy stated the waiting list had doubled. It has, and there are now 3,900 children on the waiting list, although it reduced in July. What the Deputy did not say is that there were 33% more referrals to CAMHS during the Covid-19 period, that the teams saw 21% more children and that there were 225,000 appointments last year. It is important to put that on the record of the Dáil. In response to the Deputy's question on antipsychotic medication, we now have a new clinical lead f…

Recommendation No. 1 relates to the immediate and independent regulation of CAMHS by the Mental Health Commission. As I said, a key element of the Mental Health Bill will be expansion of the commission's regulatory remit to include community residences - about 1,200 people live in community residences all over the country - and services, including CAMHS services. That has been agreed and the Mental Health Commission is aware of it but we need legislation to put it in place.

A clear process is in place for the development of the mental health Bill. Recommendation No. 2, which follows on from No. 1, states that the implementation of these recommendations must be monitored by the Mental Health Commission. The commission intends to publish a yearly report on the progress of implementation. While I welcome the focus on service improvement in CAMHS, it is the role of the Department of Health to ensure that key performance metrics for HSE services are met. The functions of the commission, as…