Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Niazi for that. In the context of CAMHS, it is important, as Dr. Niazi noted, to state that we are looking at the model. We have 74 CAMHS teams that are not fully staffed. The question is whether we would be better off having fewer fully-staffed teams and a hub-and-spoke model in place. We are considering everything in this regard, and no decisions have been made. This is why we had the series of round-table meetings. We are also waiting for the audit and review from the HSE, the independent aspect, and from the Mental Health Commission to determine whether people would be better off travelling an extra 20 minutes if they knew when they arrived that the young people concerned would see the consultant required, as against not being able to do so closer to home. This is something we are examining. Everything is on the table; no decisions have been made.

One thing I did this year in the context of my budget was provide €750,000 to support counselling psychologists, because their fees during college training are extremely high. Supports will be provided to those students going to college in the 2023-24 academic year, namely, the first-, second- and third-year trainees. We are still finalising the arrangements between Trinity College Dublin, TCD, and the HSE in the context of how the scheme will work. This will be the first time that trainee counselling psychologists will get supports in this regard. There are 14 places in TCD. It is not many, so we are working actively with the Ministers, Deputies Harris, and Stephen Donnelly, to see how we can expand capacity in this area. We must do so because we have a growing population. We also have more people presenting with mental health difficulties and autism, and we must have the requisite pool of professionals in place as a result.

It must be noted that all across Europe challenges are being encountered. Regarding my other portfolio in respect of older people, this is why in January this year we were able to avail of 1,000 work permits for healthcare workers coming into this area from outside the EU. This approach worked previously for nursing homes when we brought more than 2,600 employees into the country to work in that area as healthcare workers. We have now done this for home care as well. It will be interesting to see what kind of numbers that will apply during the year. We are trying to think outside the box and explore different ways of operating. We know good supports are provided to those children in the CAMHS system, but many not in the system are on waiting lists and we are concerned about this aspect.