Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My remarks are also related to CHO 7. I want to acknowledge the opening statement from Mr. David Walsh and thank him and Dr. McCormack for attending today. I also want to acknowledge Mr. Walsh's willingness to engage on issues in the area on an ongoing basis which is very much appreciated. I am going to try not to repeat any of the points made by Senator Devine but there may be some degree of overlap.

I thank the witnesses for the documentation provided and the huge level of detail therein. That level of detail was something we were seeking from national representatives. In terms of finances, I am particularly interested in the ratio of pay to non-pay items. Obviously we need to have the best of professionals and that must be acknowledged. We must also ensure that there are other elements at play. We must also acknowledge the very difficult job that all of the witnesses have in terms of providing a sustainable and highly standardised system across the whole area.

We are dealing with a society where there are very diverse health and social needs within all our communities and within the communities the witnesses serve, particularly in the area of mental health. We must examine preventative measures and areas where early intervention and acute intervention are needed. There are many levels to be considered. I would put a great deal of focus on preventative measures in terms of work that can be done by community organisations working with schools and helping community organisations whose volunteers do a great deal of work. I would mention the Hope (D) service, with which I am sure Mr. David Walsh and Dr. Brendan McCormack are familiar, which does a great deal of work before people reach a crisis point, the Samaritans, which have their regional base in Newbridge and which does incredible work, and the Mojo service, and I have seen at first-hand the terrific work it does.

Senator Devine asked a question about the suicide prevention officers. I am particularly interested in how they do their work in terms of suicide prevention. I welcome the fact that funding is being spent on the Lakeview unit in Naas. That is badly needed and I would like to hear the timeline for that.

I would like one of the witnesses to tell me about the monthly local forums that have been established, and I am particularly interested in area 9. The sharing of the views and experience of service users and families in trying to identify the gaps that exist is hugely important and will help in designing the best delivery systems we can have.

From having spoken to constituents and friends of mine, I would acknowledge that the whole area of eating disorders is a major one in terms of mental health issues. I note a regional team will be commencing this year. That is to be welcomed but I would like to know how the roll-out of that will happen, and we need to make sure that it will have an impact in every area. I would also mention the home base treatment team and it is good to note the priorities that are emerging.

The child and adolescent mental health service, CAMHS, is one of the areas about which I have a concern. I genuinely regret to say that I do not hear many positive comments about CAMHS. I am always conscious when we are dealing with professions and public servants that it is not good for mental health for public representatives to start to give out about them because everybody must be respectful of one another.

However, I have genuine concerns and I would mention the experiences of three random constituents of mine. One parent contacted me advising their child has been in the system for ten months and that they rarely get to see somebody and they have never seen the same person twice. There is no consistency across the service. That is very wrong. We all know what it is like to have to build up trust with a young person. The fact that different professionals deal with the young person every time is not right and that certainly should not be way the system works.

Another parent contacted me whose child who was attending school and was deemed to be too severe for CAMHS and they were completely caught out. Luckily in that case, the matter rectified itself in a number of months. I also spoke to a parent who was desperately trying to do the best for their only child. They said that they would pay for private assessment as there was such a long waiting list to get an assessment but they were told by CAMHS that if they went privately for the assessment they could not come back into the system. I highlight those cases-----