Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Church has alluded to services related to intervention, and particularly around the CAMHS. We are all aware of the very long waiting times for intervention, and we know that early intervention is crucial for children's well-being.

We spoke a few minutes ago about the first port of call for children being their parents, or whatever circumstances is their family model. What advice does Mr. Church have for children in that regard? Anxiety is a fact of life. It is how one deals with it. In the past 18 months, this has manifested in all sorts of ways for everybody but particularly for children. Some children may have inverted this and may have shown behaviour they have not shown before. With regard to parents, siblings and the child's family group, the pandemic did a number of things but it may also have brought people closer in communities and within families, which is very important. That went a number of ways also. When parents are speaking to their child, what is the best way to engage around certain types of anxieties that children may be having during the pandemic and post-pandemic?