Ms Maeve Geraghty:

The SASSY and the YoDA teams, which are the dual diagnosis adolescent teams in Dublin, work very well. When young people come to our service, we are able to assess whether they have mild, moderate or severe mental illness and get them the treatment they need accordingly. What is very clear is that it is only available in a very small catchment area and is not available nationally. It works well because we really listen to young people. We are psychiatric-led but we also have child and adolescent psychotherapists who are trained to listen to what young people are saying, rather than jumping to conclusions and diagnosing or dismissing just because it does not look good on paper. We also see young people within two weeks of referral to make an assessment and to prioritise. Having the counsellors available gives us the opportunity to listen because many young people feel that they are not actually listened to. It works and is effective but is only available to a small number of people because we have a tiny team and it is not available outside Dublin. There are good role models for something that works and needs to be made available nationally.