Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 June 2023
338. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Health the status of the implementation of the recommendations of the National Youth Mental Health Task Force, in particular the youth mental health pathfinder project; if a pathfinder team is now in place; if so, the progress to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26850/23]
View answerThe Government is fully committed to the implementation of Sharing the Vision (2020-2030) which broadly incorporates the recommendations of the National Youth Mental Health Taskforce (2017).
This is reflected by the record allocation of over €1.2 billion for mental health in 2023, which includes a wide spectrum of services for young people ranging from prevention and early intervention to clinical programmes or acute in-patient care. Sharing the Vision has various recommendations relating to children and adolescents, including promoting a more holistic and whole-of Government approach. The National Implementation Monitoring Committee for Sharing the Vision regularly publishes progress reports in the public domain.
A significant recent development, under the HSE Service Plan 2023, is the creation of a new post of Youth Mental Health Lead at Assistant National Director level, and a new Clinical Lead for Youth Mental Health. These will allow the HSE to provide more integrated services overall, as envisaged under Sharing the Vision and Slaintecare.
With regard to the proposal to establish a cross-governmental youth mental health Pathfinder unit, with participation from the Department of Health, the Department of Education and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, this received Ministerial approval during the previous Government. Its establishment is contained within the current Programme for Government.
The proposal is to formalise a new model for collaborative working within Government and place a Pathfinder unit on a statutory footing, through section 12 of the Public Service Management Act 1997. As this section has not been used before, various administrative, budgetary, governance and legal arrangements need to be developed and agreed with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to ensure a robust and workable model for the Pathfinder unit.
The demands on both Departments during the pandemic have presented challenges to progressing the proposals. Nonetheless, the Department of Health has engaged with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to develop an implementation option that fully addresses these issues. The realignment of Departmental functions in the education sector, specifically the establishment of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, has necessitated some further consideration of the initial proposal and makeup of the Pathfinder unit.
Officials from the Department of Health and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform have discussed improved proposals for governance and legal arrangements at meetings in the past. Subsequently, the Department of Health worked with the Office of Parliamentary Counsel on the proposals for governance and legal arrangements to advance the establishment of the unit. These draft proposals are currently being considered by relevant Departments.
The Deputy can rest assured that I will continue to keep this matter under review, in the context of progress to-date, or that planned, for mental health legislation, policies and services relating to young people.
