Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I have a few more issues to raise if the witnesses do not mind. It has been a long morning and they are probably keen to call it a day. On the last point about being warned about not giving out about CAMHS and the effect that might have on recruitment, that kind of secrecy is an old ploy to keep people quiet and also underlines the need for outside regulation by the Mental Health Commission. As the Chair said, if everybody keeps quiet about it nothing gets done. Was it the HSE that warned the group, as a matter of interest? It would be shocking if it was.

I wish to go back to the issue of private assessments that was raised and also mentioned by the Chair. This is part of a piece we are seeing right across the health and social care system where what was creeping privatisation and outsourcing is now galloping privatisation. The point was made that people are forced to get private assessments and it is the same with children's disability network teams forcing people out to private assessment. People must pay for that and the vast majority of parents cannot afford it, which means a huge number of people are left behind. It is then essentially a privatised service rather than the public service we should have, and should especially have in place for children. The other impact of that kind of outsourcing is that for therapists themselves, it is an easier and more lucrative career choice to work in the private sector. That militates against recruiting people to the public sector. I am concerned we are reaching a tipping point with this and we see it right across the board. The NTPF and all of that is about outsourcing, so there is a major problem from that point of view. There is the high cost, but we should always remember the large number of people who are completely failed and left behind by this tendency.

I have two specific questions. The witnesses have catalogued all the major shortcomings of CAMHS. When people are refused access to services are there are shockingly long waiting lists, what is the complaints procedure in place for CAMHS? Where can people go to raise this? It was mentioned that people are frightened off about making complaints, but what is the complaints procedure officially?

My second question is on the point made about the need to access other services when children are refused in CAMHS. The witnesses talked about the need to access speech and language therapy or occupational therapy, but what about the need to access other mental health services, especially in circumstances where parents do not want to go down the road of medication? Are there any options there or what options are there for parents who want their children to have access to talk therapies rather than medication?