Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas le gach duine as teacht os ár gcomhair agus fianaise a thabhairt. Tá sé an-tromchúiseach agus is léir go bhfuil go leor constaicí ann chun é a réiteach do na scoláirí go léir. I agree very much with what Mr. Power said about schools being well placed. Not all of the issues facing young people are related to schools but every child does attend school and there are opportunities there. The scale of this problem is very significant because we must try to resolve the root causes of it and as Deputy Ó Ríordáin, Mr. Power and Ms Murray have just discussed, some of those are rooted in education or schools. I have just come from the launch of the BeLonGTo Irish school climate survey, which found that 76% of LGBTQ+ students feel unsafe in school and one in three reported other students not being accepting of LGBTQ+ identity. That is just one example. The scale of the problem is so significant because many of the issues that are causing mental ill-health are societal but it also concerns trying to ensure that people who have difficulties and crises are responded to, so there are two sides to it.

My first question relates to how we do treat young people in those situations. My question is for Mr. Chambers but perhaps Mr. Smyth or somebody else would like to respond as well.

The situation in CAMHS is challenging. All present are aware of the waiting lists for the service. If we were to take a single area, Cork is probably one with which both Mr. Chambers and I are familiar. What is the current threshold for a child to be admitted to CAMHS?