Mr. Jim Ryan:

I will take the first part of the Deputy's question. He may have heard of CAMHS operational guidelines, which have been in place since 2019 and which we are currently reviewing. That review was intended to look at what exactly CAMHS does. Part of that is about defining what it provides as a service, and part of it is about the difficulty people have in saying CAMHS does not meet their needs. We acknowledge that. When we look at the number of young people who may not be accepted as meeting the criteria for CAMHS, certainly within the HSE we have a responsibility to try to provide the service for young people who do not meet the criteria for CAMHS but who absolutely need a service.

We are not saying they do not have a need. We are saying that the 2% Dr. Doody mentioned earlier - internationally it is normally 2% to 3% - who require CAMHS may fall outside of it but that does not mean they do not need services. I will ask Dr. Doody to address the Deputy's point specifically.