Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

With all due respect, I was trying to answer the question. The Deputy asked what plan we have. At the moment, we have an intervention to try to reduce long-waiters off the waiting list for primary care psychology. This is after there have been 48% more referrals in the space of two years. Any system is going to be under pressure. We also have a waiting list initiative running across six of the CHOs in respect of CAMHS. It was a waiting list initiative in 2018 that led to the discovery of the challenges in Kerry CAMHS, which led to the Maskey report and all these reviews we are doing.

I agree with my colleague. It is not so much that recruitment is the issue now, rather, it is retention. It has to be stated that people working with persons with profound disabilities and the most vulnerable people with very severe mental health difficulties – acute and enduring mental health difficulties – have tough jobs. We have people who are so dedicated and do their utmost. Many of these people need supports 24-7. There are people working on a Saturday night and a Sunday night, at weekends and on bank holidays.

The HSE now has 140,000 staff and it has a lot of partners. On recruitment and especially retention, when some of us are out on, say, a Saturday evening, going out for a meal or going to the cinema or doing something with our families, there are a lot of people who work in services and it is challenging to retain them. It has to be acknowledged that people work in very difficult circumstances who are doing their absolute best.