Mental Health Services

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 April 2022

Tuesday, 5 April 2022

Questions (839, 840, 841, 842)

Holly Cairns

Question:

839. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 669 of 1 March 2022, the reason a local interview was used as the method of recruitment to a senior psychologist adult mental health post in St. Stephen's Hospital, Glanmire and the Fermoy home-based crisis team in March 2017 instead of the relevant national recruitment panel; the reason the relevant national recruitment panel was later used in October 2017 when the same post was at that stage vacated and again advertised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18121/22]

Holly Cairns

Question:

840. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 666 of 1 March 2022, the way in which mental health psychologists in County Cork were informed of opportunities to transfer into posts outside of the nationally agreed recruitment process for the years 2014, 2016 and 2017, given that personal development planning meetings were not scheduled by HSE management for those years; if written records exist to show that these opportunities to transfer into posts were conveyed equally to mental health psychologists in County Cork in years in which such personal development planning meetings were scheduled; the reason it is, as per the response supplied, it was not possible for the HSE to comment on individual cases in which a reassignment of a staff member has been facilitated given that such reassignments are public appointments to posts that would have been open to competition among eligible candidates had the opportunities of being advertised to the nationally agreed recruitment panel process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18122/22]

Holly Cairns

Question:

841. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 666 of 1 March 2022, the number of HSE psychologists in CHO4 that expressed an interest in writing in availing of opportunities to transfer into posts for each of the years 2014 to 2021; the number of HSE psychologists in CHO4 that were facilitated in each of these years to transfer into posts that were not first advertised to eligible candidates on the relevant national recruitment panel; if he will identify the HSE managers who decided on these public appointments by transfer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18123/22]

Holly Cairns

Question:

842. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health the percentage of appointments to permanent contract senior psychologist posts in the adult mental health services in County Cork between August 2017 and January 2021 that took place through unadvertised transfers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18124/22]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Health

I propose to take Questions Nos. 839, 840, 841 and 842 together.

As these are service matters I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Question No. 840 answered with Question No. 839.

Question No. 841 answered with Question No. 839.

Question No. 842 answered with Question No. 839.