Dr. Susan Finnerty:

It is important to remember that CAMHS treats people who are seriously mentally ill. There is a whole population of young people who require some form of counselling or support but not necessarily in CAMHS. The Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, has put counselling psychologists and assistant psychologists into primary care, and that would be the first port of call.

The investment in primary care is key for young people, whether it is Jigsaw or psychologists in primary care, counsellors or social workers at that level. That will allow the CAMHS teams to deal with children such as those described by the Deputy, with repeated self-harm, depression, early psychosis and so on. That is where the investment is needed.