Ms Anne O'Connor:

I will not argue about the policy around populations in A Vision for Change. However, from our perspective of running mental health services, we have our eyes wide open about the very real challenges in recruiting consultants to CAMHS. When we say we have 72 teams requiring consultants, as we grow teams and as we need more consultants we struggle to get consultant psychiatrists. That is not just an Irish challenge but a global one. We are competing in a global market when it comes to getting CAMHS consultants. There is a question to be asked about how we actually provide a sufficient medical workforce as we grow the numbers of teams.

Our priority has to be for the sickest children to receive the service they need. That is why within mental health, over a number of years now, we have been investing in a range of solutions to try to look at how we can prioritise children with most need for our very specialist service. We have to remember CAMHS is a very specialist mental health service. There are other options available for mental health supports that we have funded, for example, Jigsaw, as I mentioned, in primary care psychology. Those avenues should be used in the first instance. While I do not disagree with what is stated in the policy, it is worth noting that we are now focused on Sharing the Vision - I know Mr. Ryan and Dr. Burke are very involved in that - and are looking at a different type of approach around youth mental health. The workforce challenge is a very real one that we cannot ignore.