Mr. John Hayes:

I drew attention in my submission, or an attachment to it, to the benchmarking of the CHO 1 figures against the targets in A Vision for Change. CAMHS on the ground is operating at approximately 51% of the recommended level of clinical staff for the service. A further 44 clinical staff would be required across the five counties to bring CHO 1 up to the targets for the CAMHS set out in A Vision for Change. As the Sligo-Leitrim area is currently operating at a level between 51% and 53%, it is representative of what is happening across CHO 1. Our immediate recruitment challenge does not necessarily involve funding per se. It involves getting consultant psychiatrists, in particular. We have less difficulty than the eastern area in recruiting psychiatric nurses. Our main challenge is in recruiting consultant psychiatrists. We are endeavouring to address that issue. While we have had some success to date, until there are permanent people in full-time employment, there will always be a sense of vulnerability due to the possibility that they might leave and move on.