James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I start by thanking Ms Brennan for her testimony. Breaking with anonymity was a very powerful, brave and difficult thing to do. One thing we have learned is that very often, personal experiences do the most in acting as catalysts for change. It should not have to be like this but very often, it is the thing that empowers some people to sit up, wake up and see exactly what is going on.

I thank Dr. Muldoon for his work in his report in terms of giving a voice to children. Very often, the most difficult thing we face is giving effect to that voice for obvious reasons such as data protection and access. Very often, it is the voice that is missing. There has been a history of too much focus on paternalism in this country that needs to be rebalanced so that our children's voices can be heard. I very much welcome that.

I thank Mr. Saunders and the Mental Health Commission for their work. I know Mr. Saunders does great work both inside and outside the commission. Very often, inspection reports are the launch pad for parliamentary questions I put and further work. My first question is for Mr. Saunders. I recently asked the Department of Health about the longest length of stay with regard to children in adult units. The Department told me that it does not keep that information or those records. I think this is quite unbelievable and unacceptable. It is outrageous that this is the case. I know the commission has had this information in past reports so I do not know why it is not available from the Department anymore. For the Department to say it does not know how long children are staying in adult units is outrageous. Dealing with Waterford, anecdotally, there seems to be a significant increase in the number of children staying in these units for four, five or six weeks. Perhaps the commission could address that. Is it just my interpretation of what I am seeing or is it a trend that is becoming more worrisome?

From talking to parents, I have discovered it is happening because of the lack of alternative supports, which was addressed by Ms Brennan, such as activities or alternative therapies. Again, that is totally unacceptable.

Dr. Muldoon touched the most important finding of the commmittee, that being that we do not know how much is being spent on child mental health services. I ask him to comment on another key finding, which is that €400 million is being spent on psychotropic drugs in our mental health services but only €10 million on talk therapies. Medication has an important role in treatment but a ratio of 40:1 in its favour over basic talk therapy support gives a very clear indication of the focus of and imbalance in our health services.

We know that people recover best when treated close to their family, friends and care network. Dr. Muldoon touched on that when he noted that separation from family is a particularly significant challenge frequently mentioned by young people. People with eating disorders or members of the deaf community who need specialised supports very often are sent to the United Kingdom for a long time to receive appropriate support. Those people are completely separated from their loved ones and care network. The same language may be spoken in the United Kingdom but it is a different jurisdiction and those people are completely alienated from their families, friends and support networks. I ask Dr. Muldoon to address the consequences of our young people being alienated by being sent out of the country to access medical supports.