Written Answers Nos. 1128-1143
1128. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the number of intensive care rehabilitation unit beds open at the National Forensic Mental Health Service; the number planned; and the average waiting time for transfer into forensic inpatient care. [72451/25]
View answerThe HSE National Forensic Mental Health Service (NFMHS) relocated from Dundrum to Portrane on 4 November 2022. The complex includes a new 130-bed Central Mental Hospital (CMH) and a 30-bed Intensive Care Rehabilitation Unit (ICRU). It was always intended that the NFMHS facility in Portrane would become fully operational on a phased basis following relocation of this national service due to the availability of suitable qualified staff for this highly specialised facility.
The NFMHS facility, with a capital cost in excess of €200 million, is one of the most modern of its type in the world and it presents new opportunities to deliver the highest quality care and outcomes for some of the most complex and vulnerable mental health cases in Ireland. The specialist NFMHS, including the CMH, is the national forensic mental health resource for teaching and training in all disciplines, driven by excellence in research and development, clinical risk management, rights and recovery.
The bed capacity in the new CMH increased from around 95 beds in Dundrum to 112 when relocation took place. These 112 operational beds across 9 units provide high and medium secure care for patients with major mental illness and associated violent behaviour. There are 88 beds for men, 14 for women, and 10 beds for men with both mental health and intellectual and developmental difficulties. The hospital receives admissions from prisons, courts and approved mental health centres nationally. Clinical care is delivered by 9 Multidisciplinary Teams each led by a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist.
In addition, the NFMHS has 30 community beds stratified by level of support across 6 residences, for patients who have spent time in the CMH following a Court finding of Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity. The NFMHS also provides care to a further 30 patients who were previously in the CMH and who are living independently or in placements with private health care providers.
I secured additional funding of €2.1 million under Budget 2025 to open the remaining 18 beds in the CMH, which will bring the hospital to its full operational complement of 130 beds. Some of these 18 additional beds have become operational, and the remainder are due to come on stream over the next month or so.
Under Budget 2026, I provided funding of €2.8 million for an additional 30 WTE posts to facilitate the opening of 10 beds in the new ICRU, on a phased basis, to provide secure care for patients on a longer-term basis, with a focus on rehabilitation. Opening these beds, which is a priority for the Department and for the HSE, will also allow patients to be moved more efficiently through the various levels of support offered by the care pathway in the CMH, which will in turn allow for further admissions across the NFMHS estate.
I intend to seek funding in future estimates processes to sustainably recruit the specialised staff required to open the remaining beds at the NFMHS facility at Portrane.
I have referred this PQ to the HSE to reply direct to the Deputy in relation to the detailed information sought on waiting times.
1129. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health to provide an update on progress, capital allocation, staffing plans and expected opening date for the long-promised National Mother and Baby Unit for perinatal mental health. [72452/25]
View answerThe Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services( SPMHS) is now available in all 19 maternity hospitals nationwide, SPMHS provides support to pregnant women and women with a baby up to one year old, with an existing or new mental health problem. Funding to date of €3.6 million has resulted in 6 consultant led multidisciplinary teams are in place across major maternity hospitals (Coombe, NMH, Rotunda, Galway, Cork, Limerick), with 13 spoke sites staffed by perinatal mental health midwife posts.
A key priority in the Model of Care is to develop a Mother and Baby Unit. I working with my Department and the HSE to progress the development of a Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) for Ireland, an inpatient mental health service with relevant maternity support to allow women to stay with their babies during their mental health treatment. A feasibility study on the MBU at St Vincent’s Hospital is currently under consideration by the HSE. My Department continues to support the HSE as it works to put in place an MBU as soon as possible.
As this relates to a service matter, it has been referred to the HSE to reply to you directly.
1130. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the complete budget breakdown of the 2026 mental health allocation, including funding by programme area; funding by CHO; funding for community versus inpatient care; funding for each National Clinical Programme; and to publish this in a single accessible document. [72453/25]
View answerThe total allocation for mental health services in 2026 is almost €1.6 billion, which is the sixth year in a row in which the mental health budget has been increased.
This increase in funding for mental health services represents a significant investment which will enable continued policy implementation and service improvement in line with our national mental health policy, Sharing the Vision, and our national suicide and self-harm reduction strategy Connecting for Life, across a broad continuum from mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention, through to specialist mental health services. This year’s budget provided the opportunity to focus on investing in crisis support and suicide prevention; youth mental health and CAMHS, and expanding the National Clinical Programmes.
As occurs each year following the Budget, discussions are ongoing with the HSE on details relating to specific service initiatives in the context of implementing the HSE Service Plan 2026, including that for Mental Health. The HSE National Service Plan 2026 is now published on their website. The HSE will operationalise the various service initiatives in 2026 through the national offices for mental health and the new regional health areas.
1132. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the roles and grades within the 300 additional mental health posts funded in budget 2026; and the CHOs they will be assigned to, recruitment timelines and expected start dates. [72455/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
1133. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health whether she will introduce multi-annual funding agreements for community mental health organisations; the estimated budget required; and her Department's rationale for continuing annualised funding cycles. [72456/25]
View answerThe total allocation for mental health services in 2026 is almost €1.6 billion, which is the sixth year in a row in which the mental health budget has been increased.
This increase in funding for mental health services represents a significant investment which will enable continued policy implementation and service improvement in line with our national mental health policy, Sharing the Vision, and our national suicide and self-harm reduction strategy Connecting for Life, across a broad continuum from mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention, through to specialist mental health services. This year’s budget provided the opportunity to focus on investing in crisis support and suicide prevention; youth mental health and CAMHS, and expanding the National Clinical Programmes.
As occurs each year following the Budget, it will be the responsibility of the HSE in relation to specific service initiatives to operationalise the rollout of HSE Service Plan 2026, including that for Mental Health.
With regard to funding for community based mental health organisations, all funding requests from such organisations for service initiatives are progressed in line with the annual Budgetary Estimate process which is required for State Expenditure purposes.
I acknowledge that there are potential benefits of introducing multi-annual funding to improve planning over a multi-annual horizon on a more structured and sustainable timeframe than a single year. However, there currently exist a range of legislative barriers to the introduction of multi-annual funding on the basis that the Oireachtas only votes current expenditure to individual Government departments for a single year at a time. This in turn translates into the legislative provisions under the Health Act 2004 (as amended) where the Department confirms the funding determination to the HSE each year, post Budget, to inform the development of the HSE National Service Plan. This funding allocation and service planning process only occurs on a planning horizon of a single year at a time.
Community mental health organisations are key partners in the delivery of our national mental health policy, Sharing the Vision, and our national suicide and self-harm reduction strategy Connecting for Life which set out the strategic priorities for mental health and suicide reduction. These policies, and the forthcoming successor suicide and self-harm reduction strategy, will guide funding allocations for both the HSE and key partner organisations into the future.
In addition, the HSE is also developing a longer term 10-year Capital plan for mental health. The new mental health 10-year Capital Development Programme will focus on upgrading existing facilities, replacing inappropriate community facilities and the continued expansion of service over this 10-year period.
1134. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the amount allocated in 2026 to ADHD teams, eating disorder teams, early intervention in psychosis teams and dual-diagnosis services, along with staff numbers currently in place and staff required for full implementation. [72457/25]
View answerThe total allocation for mental health services in 2026 is almost €1.6 billion, which is the sixth year in a row in which the mental health budget has been increased.
This increase in funding for mental health services represents a significant investment which will enable continued policy implementation and service improvement in line with our national mental health policy, Sharing the Vision, and our national suicide and self-harm reduction strategy Connecting for Life, across a broad continuum from mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention, through to specialist mental health services. This year’s budget provided the opportunity to focus on investing in crisis support and suicide prevention; youth mental health and CAMHS, and expanding the National Clinical Programmes.
As occurs each year following the Budget, the Department is working with the HSE to agree the National Service Plan for 2025, and it will be the responsibility of the HSE to operationalise the rollout of the initiatives within the Plan in 2025, including for the National Clinical Programmes for Mental Health.
As you have also raised operational matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1135. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the progress made in implementing all recommendations from the Mental Health Commission’s most recent annual report; and the expected completion dates. [72458/25]
View answerThe Deputy requested for this PQ to be withdrawn, 16 December 2025.
1136. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health when the promised National Mental Health Workforce Strategy will be published; the number of training places required in psychiatry, psychology and allied health professions; and the projected workforce gap to 2030. [72459/25]
View answerThe Department of Health is currently working to set out the long -term workforce planning needs of the health and social care sector in Ireland’s Future Health and Social Care Workforce Plan.
The plan will project the workforce required to meet the needs of the population over the next 15 years, including for mental health services. The plan has been guided by Sharing the Vision, Ireland’s ambitious, multifaceted national mental health policy to enhance the provision of mental health services and supports across a broad continuum from mental health promotion, prevention, early intervention and specialist mental health service delivery during the period 2020-2030.
As such, the workforce plan recognises the requirement to plan for the expansion of staffing in mental health services, including psychiatry, psychology and allied health professions.
The government is focused on achieving and maintaining optimum mental health in Ireland. HSE WTE numbers working in Mental Health increased by 7% between year-end 2019 and June 2025, with 99% of that increase relating to posts directly involved in patient care. The availability of suitably qualified workforce has been highlighted as challenge at a time when there has been record levels of investment in mental health services with an increase of 43.7% over the lifetime of the last government and totalling almost €1.5 billion in Budget 2025.
Implementation of Sharing the Vision is guided by a detailed Implementation Plan, with regular policy implementation progress reports published on the Department of Health website. Implementation of the policy is overseen by an independently chaired National Implementation and Monitoring Committee. The current Implementation Plan 2025-2027 for Sharing the Vision was published in April 2025.
1137. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the recruitment initiatives under way or planned to fill CAMHS consultant psychiatrist vacancies, including international recruitment, retention incentives, training schemes and administrative supports. [72460/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1138. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the current funding for Traveller mental health supports; the number of Traveller mental health workers in post; and the outcomes of targeted suicide prevention initiatives funded in 2024 to 2026. [72461/25]
View answerTravellers are noted as priority groups in both Ireland’s national mental health policy, Sharing the Vision and the suicide reduction strategy, Connecting for Life. Both policies recognise the vulnerability to and increased risk of mental health difficulties and suicidal behaviour of Travellers, and that these should be taken into consideration in the development and delivery of mental health services to Travellers. The Government's ongoing investment in mental health services continues to support the reform and enhancement of mental health services in Ireland through these policies.
Government policy relating to supporting Traveller and Roma communities is currently outlined in the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy (NTRIS). The strategy is a cross-departmental initiative and contains a set of specific actions aimed at improving the situation for Traveller and Roma communities in Ireland including mental health.
In addition, the HSE’s National Traveller Health Action Plan (NTHAP, 2022-2027) provides a roadmap for improving health experiences and outcomes for Travellers.
I have made significant additional funding for culturally appropriate Mental Health supports available for Travellers as follows.
2025 Funding – Total funding for Traveller Mental Health
|
Initiative |
€ |
|
National Traveller Counselling Service (Exchange House) |
330,000 |
|
Traveller mental health coordinators (WTE x9) |
495,000 |
|
Offaly Traveller Movement |
157,296 |
|
Sligo Traveller Support Group CLG |
55,030 |
|
Meath Travellers Workshops GLG |
28,571 |
|
Galway Traveller Movement Company Limited by Guarantee |
12,600 |
|
Laois Traveller Action Group |
7,550 |
|
Offaly Traveller Movement |
157,296 |
|
Mental Health Actions within the National Traveller Health Action Plan |
290,000 |
|
Traveller Youth MH - Youth work and counselling/psychotherapy |
370,000 |
|
Culturally appropriate supports for Travellers: Suicide Bereavement Liaison Service and NCP for Self-Harm and Suicide Related Ideation: |
365,000 |
|
Total for 2025 |
2,268,343 |
2026
An additional €480,000 is allocated by Minister Butler to support Traveller Mental Health initiatives in 2026. These initiatives include co-created Traveller/Roma Led Mental health projects aligned to relevant strategies and action plans, support for the work of the Traveller Mental Health Network, Criminal Justice System Peer Support, Mental Health First Aid, peer navigator, bespoke online suicide prevention training, and a surveillance system for death by probable suicide among Travellers. Funding is recurrent.
Total funding for 2026 (recurring base + new development)
€2,268,343 + €480,000 = €2,748,343
As your question regarding the number of Traveller mental health workers in post and the outcomes of targeted suicide-prevention initiatives funded in 2024–2026 is an operational matter, I have referred that part of your question to the HSE for direct reply to you.
1139. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the provision of mental health supports specifically aimed at LGBTQI+ people, including waiting times for specialist services and funding allocations for community partnerships. [72462/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly as soon as possible
1140. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the mental health services available to people in international protection accommodation, including waiting times for psychological support, interpreter provision, and trauma-informed care. [72463/25]
View answerThis question will be referred to the HSE as it relates to a service delivery matter.
1141. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health when a National Mental Health Outcomes Framework will be published; the indicators being developed; and whether data will be reported quarterly. [72464/25]
View answerThe current Implementation Plan (2025-2027) for Sharing the Vision: A Mental Health Policy for Everyone (2020-2030) commits to the design and development of policy outcomes monitoring and tracking processes, including population level indicators.
As of Q4 2025, a phased rollout of the Sharing the Vision outcomes framework has commenced. Taking an implementation science approach, this will in the first instance mean an additional quality check to ensure that the output, as described by the recommendation text, is relevant and ‘implementable’ from the perspective of the intended target users. Later, focus will shift to adoption by mental health services, measuring impact on services, clinical outcomes, and ultimately improvements in the mental health of the Irish population. Fourteen policy recommendations have been identified as proxy indicators for progress on the seven principal policy outcomes set out in the 2025 – 2027 implementation plan. In collaboration with implementation leads for these recommendations, work is now underway to identify data sources and agree a data collection process for a demonstration of the outcomes framework.
It is intended that nationally agreed outcomes will be clearly defined and monitoring processes put in place to inform ongoing policy implementation and service improvements, by the end of the current Implementation Plan (end 2027).
Detailed policy implementation progress reports for Sharing the Vision are published biannually by the policy's National Implementation and Monitoring Committee (NIMC) on the Department of Health website.
Associated with the Child and Youth Mental Health Action Plan and overseen by the HSE National Office for Child and Youth Mental Health, work continues in developing a national child and youth mental health outcomes framework to support the measurement of impact across service, organisational, and programme levels. The framework includes defined implementation, organisational, and beneficiary outcomes and will be a core enabler of innovation and quality improvement across child and youth mental health services.
In addition to the Sharing the Vision outcomes monitoring and tracking process, the Department of Health Mental Health Strategy Unit is currently planning the development of a Population Mental Health Surveillance Tool, the aim of which will be to monitor mental health outcomes at a population level in Ireland over time.
With regard to your query in relation to indicators and reporting timeframes, these decisions will be made as work progresses on the Surveillance Tool.
1142. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the schedule for national service-user experience surveys for mental health services; response rates; and the actions taken in response to survey findings. [72465/25]
View answerThe National Mental Health Experience Survey (NMHES) is part of the National Care Experience Programme, a joint initiative by the Health Information Quality Authority (HIQA), the Health Service Executive (HSE), and the Department of Health. The programme conducts seven surveys which ask people about their experiences of care in order to improve the quality of health and social care services in Ireland.The NMHES survey is currently being developed and will be the first survey of its kind in Ireland. The purpose of this survey is to learn from people’s experiences of inpatient mental health care and services in order to improve the care provided in these settings. Development of this survey is at an advanced stage.
1143. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health for a detailed timeline for the commencement of all parts of the new Mental Health Act, including extension of regulatory oversight to community services and CAMHS; and the resources being allocated to the Mental Health Commission to implement these functions. [72466/25]
View answerThe revision of the Mental Health Act and the development of a new Mental Health Bill has been a longstanding priority of the Department and Minister for Mental Health and features in the current Programme for Government, as well as in previous Programmes for Government. It is also a major component of Recommendation 92 of our national mental health policy, Sharing the Vision, and a priority project under Sláintecare. The purpose of the Mental Health Bill is to uphold and strengthen the rights of people accessing mental health services. The Bill enhances the rights of people to make decisions about themselves and to express their will and preferences.
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring all mental health services, both inpatient and community, and both adult and child and adolescent, are fully registered, regulated, and inspected by the Mental Health Commission in its role as the independent regulator of mental health services.
Under the Mental Health Act 2001, the Mental Health Commission registers, inspects, and regulates all inpatient mental health services, including inpatient CAMHS. The new Bill will give statutory responsibility to the Commission to register, inspect and regulate all mental health services in the community. Last Summer, I requested the Mental Health Commission begin the process of developing standards for the regulation of CAMHS. The Commission conducted a public consultation on the development of these standards which concluded just before the end of 2025. Work is ongoing to facilitate accelerated implementation of this new function of the Commission.
The Bill provides the necessary legal underpinning to ensure that the Mental Health Commission can regulate all community services. Additionally, the Bill will overhaul the involuntary admission and detention process, modernise provisions related to consent to treatment, provide enhanced safeguards for people accessing inpatient treatment, and provide a new, discrete Part that relates exclusively to the care and treatment of children and young people.
The Mental Health Bill is progressing through the legislative process and is currently in Committee Stage in the Seanad. It will be enacted in Q1 2026 and commenced on a phased basis.
While there will be costs associated with this Bill (both capital and current), they are not anticipated to arise until 2027 based on current implementation timelines. Any costs arising will be subject to prioritisation against other competing demands as part of the annual Estimates Process for the relevant year.
As the Bill moves towards enactment, the Department is engaging proactively with the HSE and the Mental Health Commission to put in place the necessary resourcing and implementation structures needed to commence the legislation.
