Dr. Susan Finnerty:

One of the problems, and we spoke about it a bit earlier, is the fact there are no child and adolescent mental health emergency beds apart from one in Galway. What happens is that doctors refer people to the accident and emergency department and spend considerable time ringing around trying to find a bed. The doctor usually fails and that teenager is admitted to the adult acute unit. Added to this is the problem that community child and adolescent mental health teams are poorly staffed. In my most recent report, I estimated they were staffed at approximately 60% of what is recommended in A Vision for Change. I also made the point that some areas are better resourced than others. I gave the example of Galway, which is particularly well-resourced in comparison with other places, such as the south east, which has only €45 per capita-----