Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

According to the report I mentioned earlier, in 2017 CAMHS made progress on reducing the number of young people waiting more than 12 months for an appointment. By March of this year, however, increasing demand for services had led to a combined national waiting list of 2,738 young people. This represents both a year-on-year increase and a higher figure than had been anticipated by the HSE. It indicates that the service, in the round, is under continuous strain. When the witnesses speak about buying in support for the services, we must remember that they are talking about emergencies. Anything that is going into CAMHS is acute. It is an emergency. Why are we not buying in support? Could we not have used some of the new funds to buy in support services for whatever part of the team was under pressure?