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

I apologise for being in and out of the meeting. I have not yet managed the ability to bilocate and I was speaking during debates in the Dáil Chamber.

I read the opening statements before I came in. I have also listened to what I could of the meeting. One area I wish to focus on especially is that of the challenges encountered in accessing mental health supports by young people who leave care. This problem has come up regularly. Most young people experience mental health difficulties between the ages of 16 and 25. Some 75% of people experience their first mental health difficulties between those ages. The child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, now only provides a service for moderate to acute mental health difficulties up to the age of 18. There is often then a cliff edge for young people in that service. They are either referred into the adult mental health services and left waiting for those, or sometimes the care they might receive in the adult mental health services is not the same as what would have been received in the CAMHS system, if those young people were lucky enough to be able to access it. Is this something the witnesses may have experience of? I will have a second question on this topic as well.