Dr. Niall Muldoon:

I thank the Senator. She also mentioned CAMHS. From our point of view, there has been a disjointed approach, as well as a lack of co-ordination and co-operation. We are conducting a number of investigations in this area and have found that CAMHS in different areas do not refer children or accept referrals from each other. I do not mind who the parent body is; if the system works correctly, that is fine. I do not think any child minds who pays the bills, as long as CAMHS work together and the system operates properly. It is to be hoped the mental health division will make a difference in that regard. However, there is a serious difficulty with the pathways to access these schemes. One of the recommendations in our report to the UN is the need for an equivalent child therapeutic service for children as the national counselling service for adults, which is free and accessible within an hour of each person. That is something that is long overdue and it would make a major difference.

The Senator asked about reporting to the Oireachtas. It is something I will look into and I will check the timings. I hope the committee has received the reports in a timely manner. She discussed the need for the voice of the child to be heard within complaints and investigations. From our point of view, we are legislated to listen to the voice of the child in every complaint we take. The majority of complaints, as the committee can imagine, come from parents, and rightly so because they have to navigate the system.

Every time we receive a complaint we consider meeting the child directly, and in many of our investigations we will do so. In a number of investigations we have quoted young people in that regard. It is something we monitor at all times in terms of whether we are keeping true to our voice and listening to the voice of the child. That is part of the reason we included children's voices in our booklet, A Word from the Wise, for the UN. It something we keep under review and keep trying to improve on.

The Senator also asked about the UN CRC priorities. I am currently working on my priorities. I do not want to pre-empt them.