Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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817. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the protocol in place between the Child and Family Agency and the Health Service Executive regarding the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and if it is still his Department's intention to bring CAMHS remit under the Child and Family Agency. [32655/14]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The statutory functions of the Child and Family Agency, established on 1 January 2014, include responsibility for child welfare and protection services formerly operated by the HSE; child and family-related services for which the HSE formerly had responsibility, including pre-school inspections and domestic, sexual and gender-based violence services; and services formerly provided by the Family Support Agency and the National Education and Welfare Board, which bodies were merged into the new Agency. The placing of such functions within the remit of the new Agency is in line with recommendations in the report of the Task Force on the Child and Family Support Agency. The Task Force made recommendations on a range of other services relevant to children and families, including child and adolescent mental health services.

The practical implications of the scale of organisational change being undertaken so far are such as to require that consideration of the Task Force's wider recommendations and, should it be considered appropriate, their implementation, take place according to a less immediate timescale. This will allow for more careful review and consideration in conjunction with relevant Departments, principally the Department of Health, as regards extending the service remit of the Agency.

A key policy objective for the Child and Family Agency is to ensure that the fundamental principles of co-operation and co-ordination in the development and delivery of services are in place. This objective is reflected and is underpinned through formal agreements with the Health Service Executive as follows: -

- Joint Protocol for Inter-Agency collaboration between the HSE and the Child and Family Agency to promote the best interests of children and families. This protocol aims to ensure a consistent national approach to service delivery where the delivery of two or more services are involved in the same case.

- Memorandum of Understanding: Strategic Agreement between the Child and Family and the HSE.

These agreements safeguard ongoing access to specialist services such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).