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

I thank Mr. Brady. I appreciate his reply. I will move on to another matter because as I only have a little time left.

Dr. Doody mentioned that a small number of young people with eating disorders needed to be admitted to eating disorder services. When I asked a parliamentary question, the reply I received – it was actually signed by Mr. Ryan – stated that 49 children had been admitted to Merlin Park or Linn Dara in 2021 but that, in the same period, 115 children whose primary presentations were for eating disorders had been admitted to non-eating disorder inpatient public acute mental health facilities. I have spoken to parents whose children are going through this process. Their children are brought in and are not getting the specialist treatment and food intake supervision that they need. All that seems to be done for them is to increase their body mass indices, at which point they are released, but it is a vicious circle, with them going back in and back out again. While I welcome that there were places for 49 children to be admitted to specialist eating disorder units, there were another 115 children who needed that specialist help but were not getting it.

Is anything being done to address that? I find it quite startling. It is a red-flag issue.