John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Kane for his presentation and I wish him well in his work. I have a specific interest in certain areas. I worked as a pharmacist before I got involved with politics. I saw a significant increase in the use of medication for children with mental health issues. I have a personal opinion that this is something that must be examined in a radical way, particularly overuse of products, and I often feel that because of the strains on the system, children can be prescribed medication because the time may not be there to deal with issues through cognitive behaviour therapy or more appropriate treatment. We need to investigate the matter and I ask the witness to consider some expertise in that area for the committee.

I would also like the group to examine education and primary education in particular. Children's brain development is most active in those years and well-being and mental health should be almost a compulsory part of the primary education system. It would be a very good starting point for prevention. I have personal experience of children with difficulties having battles for evaluations in schools. They eventually get special needs assistance but can be put into secondary school without any link-up between the schools. The same child with difficulties would go into a new environment, with different challenges completely as secondary school is so different from primary school, and after three months or so behavioural problems would be seen, with people scratching their heads wondering why it happened. The obvious answer is staring us in the face. It is another area we must consider very carefully.

The witness mentioned a multi-annual delivery and implementation plan, which is critical. In this committee we recognised very early that the reports are there but one can never design a perfect system on paper. I would add to the implementation plan an implementation office and a direct line of responsibility for implementation. This is instead of somebody saying it is not his or her responsibility. When somebody has a responsibility to deliver something, it generally happens. It is a key element.

There is also the matter of GP referrals to the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. Is that a guarantee of a timely appointment? It should be but I am led to believe there are difficulties or sometimes it is not recognised the way it should be. I ask the witness to examine that also.