Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses. It is great to put a face to some of the names because I see a lot of the people mentioned in the replies I receive to parliamentary questions. I thank them for all the responses I have been receiving from them during my time in the Oireachtas. I know the decision to close the beds in Linn Dara was not taken lightly. I thank the staff who work in CAMHS and other front-line mental health services. I had the privilege of meeting Ms O'Kelly in the primary healthcare centre in Tallaght recently as well as the staff there. I found them absolutely brilliant and very passionate about the work they do. Sometimes I am critical but I do not want that to be seen as critical towards staff or even to the witnesses. I also pay tribute to the nursing staff who are on the front line of all this.

However, the reality is that the decision to close 11 inpatient beds in Linn Dara is another abject failure of the Government to address children's mental health services. According to the latest figures I have, there are 308 admissions of children into CAMHS.

Of those 308 admissions, 138 went to Linn Dara, which seems to be the primary place for inpatient admissions. There are only 53 beds throughout the State at present. A reply I received to a parliamentary question on 16 June indicated Linn Dara went down from 24 to 13 beds, St. Vincent's dropped from 12 beds to ten and Merlin Park in Galway has been reduced from 20 to 14 beds. The only unit that had no change is Eist Linn in Cork. The reductions seem to be almost right across the board. We have heard from stakeholders and parents who are all very concerned that this closure of beds could lead to a further decrease in the services children get. It could also lead to the placement of children in adult psychiatric facilities, which is another concern they have.

To return specifically to Linn Dara, this is the second time in five years this has happened. The last time beds were closed in a similar situation was 2017. What lessons have been learned? What is being done differently this time?