Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would assume that for very serious cases, patients are transferred but it is the less serious cases that I am concerned about. People I know have had loved ones in Castlebar. Thankfully, they have recovered but there was no neurological service available there, which is of concern.

Families for Reform of CAMHS appeared before this committee on 17 January. They said there was insufficient and inadequate staffing and resources, that therapeutic supports were extremely hard to access and that children were often only offered medication. Some 35% of members of that group would have liked to make a complaint but chose not to because they were worried about how that would impact their children's care.

They call for the end of the discrimination against autistic children and children with intellectual disabilities in the provision of mental health services. The practice they have is not to disclose an autism diagnosis because that would be seen as a barrier to gaining access to CAMHS. There is a considerable range of conditions under the autism umbrella, from mild to more severe. If a diagnosis is acting as a barrier to CAMHS, that is not good enough considering the number of children who get a diagnosis of autism.