Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It may be. To be honest, the response from the council has been fulsome. The committee recommends that the response be sent to the petitioner, but while litigation is ongoing, our hands are probably tied. What Deputy Buckley mentioned may be a way out of it. Is that agreed? Agreed.

The next petition is No. P00055/24 "Connect Eating Disorder Care and Provide a Sufficient Level of Service" from Ms Amy Hanley. It states:

More direct routes to access Eating Disorder (ED) care are needed, and earlier interventions for sufferers and parents are required. A connection in service between physical and mental health, such as ED specialists and mental health services in acute hospitals, and NG options in all inpatient units are needed. Additional inpatient units or a reduction in catchment area restrictions are needed.

The petitioner is looking for action to be taken on the following three steps. More direct routes to access eating disorder care are needed, and earlier interventions for sufferers and parents are required. Additional inpatient units or a reduction in catchment area restrictions are needed. Consistent funding each year and ring-fenced funding is extremely important to maintain and improve services.

The action taken to resolve the issue of concern before submitting the petition was the submission of a complaint to HSE Your Service Your Say with no response. A complaint was submitted to the Ombudsman for Children’s office and the petitioner worked with an investigator, but they had little to no power in clinical matters when inpatient units would not accept her daughter. The petitioner contacted all her local TDs, but the most they could do was submit parliamentary questions and contact the HSE on her behalf. The petitioner also emailed Linn Dara directly to try to resolve the issue and it referred her to CAMHS, which referred her back to Linn Dara. The petitioner asked for a meeting with the HSE and was ignored. A TD tried to get them mediation with the HSE, but they never got anywhere with that.

Regarding action taken by the secretariat, the secretariat wrote to the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive on 24 June 2024 seeking a response advising of their views within 14 days. The secretariat received a response from the Department of Health on 8 July 2024 and from the HSE on 16 July 2024.

The recommendations are that we publish the responses from the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive and that the correspondence from the Department of Health and from the Health Service Executive be forwarded to the petitioner for comment within 14 days. Do the members have any views?