Ms Eilísh Hardiman:

I thank the Senator. I would like to clarify and acknowledge that our colleagues in the HSE and CHOs are driving the model of care for eating disorders. They have a proposal and plan for this. Through enhanced community care, they have secured significant investment in every one of the nine CHOs to implement eating disorder teams. They are specialist teams comprising nurses, psychologists and CAMHS. They are being rolled out this year. I can ask my HSE colleagues to give the Senator an update on those plans.

The intention of the model of care is early intervention. We know there is still a requirement for highly specialised beds. There are specialised beds in LauraLynn, which provides child and adolescent services, and we work very closely with the hospice. In our planning for the new children's hospital, of the 20 beds in the building managed by CAMHS, eight have been identified for eating disorders. We anticipate they will be for very sick children who need medical as well as mental health intervention. They are the projected estimates.

The increase is acknowledged. It is a key issue that has been prioritised for roll out under enhancing community care. We will continue to work with our colleagues and treat patients. At the moment patients who need highly specialised treatment are in CHI. We sometimes work with our colleagues in the UK if highly specialised care is needed. We acknowledge that this has been the biggest impact of the pandemic on children and adolescents. We are working on plans to enhance community care and mental health and, where required, to work with our colleagues to best address cases where patients need to be admitted.