Ms Saoirse Brady:

The Children's Rights Alliance welcomes the opportunity to address the Seanad Public Consultation Committee. The alliance is a national movement uniting more than 100 organisations to make Ireland one the best places in the world to be a child. We change the lives of all children by making sure their rights are respected and protected in our laws, policies and services.

The Children’s Rights Alliance is deeply concerned about the provision of mental health services to children and young people in Ireland. As the previous speaker noted, according to the recent UNICEF report, Ireland has the fourth highest teen suicide rate among high income countries. Recent studies suggest that young people in Ireland may have a higher rate of mental health issues than their peers in other countries. However, this has not resulted in a correlated level of service provision.

All children have a right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health under Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has emphasised the serious nature of mental health problems for children and the need to tackle "behavioural and social issues that undermine children’s mental health, psychosocial wellbeing and emotional development." In our alliance report card 2017 grading the Government on its progress in 2016, mental health received a grade of D minus, reflecting the lack of progress on realising children's rights in the area of mental health. Children's rights should be respected and central to the provision of mental health care.

The Children's Rights Alliance welcomes the introduction of the Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2016 which proposes, if passed into law, to introduce a prohibition on the admission of children to adult psychiatric units save in exceptional circumstances where it would be in the best interests of the child to do so. In this regard, the legislation should provide for a comprehensive definition of the term "best interests" and an oversight mechanism to ensure children's rights are respected. A comprehensive definition of the best interests of the child and the factors to be taken into account are already outlined in the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015. This definition should be considered and adapted for legislation to amend the Mental Health Act. One of the important factors in this regard will be hearing the voice of the child. We will all agree that it was essential to hear from Ms Gallagher today.

As recognised by the Seanad committee, there is a need not only to prevent the admission of children to adult inpatient units but also to address the underlying issues in the child and adolescent mental health services which result in these admissions taking place. Ms Ahern will outline the Children's Rights Alliance's views on the waiting lists for CAMHS, the persistent admittance of children to adult inpatient units, the need to develop an out-of-hours service to respond to the needs of children and young people and the introduction of an advocacy service for children and young people.