Mr. Jim Ryan:

There is a self-improvement plan in place, particularly for the Sligo-Leitrim region because there is a waiting list of over 12 months for CAMHS. The figures I have received today show that 40 people were waiting at the end of September, while 25 were waiting at the end of October, which represents a significant decrease. We hope to have eliminated the waiting list by the end of the year. The improvement is due to the employment of a consultant in the past few months who has focused specifically on the 12-month waiting list. We have also considered the practices followed by each of the teams to make sure we conduct our business in the most effective way possible.

In respect of child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, one of our major objectives is to reduce waiting lists and increase access at inpatient level and the level of CAMHS teams. We expect to eliminate the 12-months plus waiting list in the CHO 1 area by the end of the year. We will do so in such a way that the waiting list will be significantly reduced from now onwards.