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

I have a last point to make regarding CAMHS. I am paraphrasing Mr. Gloster regarding the Minister saying that we need to move away from CAMHS. It is all well and good and easy to say but at the moment 4,490 children or young people are waiting for a first-time appointment with CAMHS. Some 752 of these children are waiting for more than a year for appointment. It was mentioned that 95% should be seen in three days but there are 752 children. When this Government came into office, 200 children were waiting for more than one year for an appointment and it is up to 752 now. I always talk about early intervention and the connection between Jigsaw and other primary care services like primary care psychology. If a child or young person gets the service at an early age, he or she is less likely to need the services or CAMHS as they progress. Is any work being done to resource primary care or work between CAMHS and primary care psychology? There are 11,000 children waiting for an appointment with primary care psychology at the moment. Is any work being done to connect both of these services?