Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank each chief officer for their presentation. I welcome in particular Mr. Bernard Gloster, Dr. John O'Mahoney and Ms Niamh Doody. There is a bit of a theme in the issues that have been raised. I will focus on the CAMHS in the mid-west. Will Mr. Gloster give us an overview? There are significant challenges. We have been given figures on staffing arrangements and there are gaps there. One of the boxes is headed "VFC". Will Mr. Gloster give us an explanation for that? I welcome that in Clare, the county I represent, a consultant will be appointed to the CAMH service. It was a particular challenge over many years. There was someone working there in an agency capacity. It is good to see that is happening. There are significant challenges. What measures are taken to improve access and to deal with age-appropriate services and the waiting list? What type of waiting list is there? I will allow my colleagues, Deputies Harty and Neville, to raise issues on that.

I went to the launch of the Connecting for Life strategy. I compliment the witnesses from that region on the lead-up to that day and the involvement of all the stakeholders across the region in communities. How is the implementation of that plan going? Have the witnesses received any updates from different community sector involvements in it? The budget has increased by €8 million over the past three years to a total of €66.988 million in 2018. In light of the significant funding given by Government in recent years, what are the main achievements in 2017? What are the priorities in 2018?