Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

Last week's "Prime Time Investigates" television programme starkly revealed the human suffering of those children and parents who have been abandoned by Ireland's under-resourced psychiatric services. Child and adolescent psychiatric services account for only 5% to 10% of spending on mental health services, while serving 22.68% of the population. This underinvestment has resulted, as Members saw last week, in child and adolescent services which are sporadic or non-existent.

The Kerry Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service is based in Greenview Clinic and is run by the Brothers of Charity. The clinic deals with children who experience severe and complex behavioural difficulties such as ADHD. At present, the waiting period for assessment at Greenview Clinic depends on the category in which one is considered to be — general, priority 2, which is semi-urgent, or urgent. There are 11 children currently in the general category, with a waiting period of 56 months — four years and eight months. There are 109 individuals on the priority 2 list, with a waiting period of 22 months, and there are 83 individuals on the urgent list, with a 16-month waiting time.

Figures obtained from the Health Service Executive under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that, nationally, over 3,000 children under the age of 16 are on waiting lists to get an assessment. The length of the waiting time depends on where one lives. In Dublin, the waiting time is two years, while it is three years in Mayo and, in many cases, over four years in Kerry.

According to an unpublished Health Service Executive report on child mental health teams, in September of this year there were only nine psychiatric nurses in the HSE, south, area, when really there should be 24. In a survey of teachers from over 200 schools, many of which were in Kerry, conducted by "Prime Time" and the Irish National Teachers' Association, over three quarters stated that their teaching had been compromised by a pupil with a mental health problem.

Mental health services for children in Kerry are under-resourced, understaffed, fragmented and inaccessible in many cases. Planning nationally has been haphazard and there are only two public units for adolescents in Ireland. Two, three or four year waiting times are devastating for children, who deteriorate enormously in that period without diagnosis or treatment.

Spending on mental health has halved in the 18 years from 1988 to 2006 and Ireland now has the fifth highest youth suicide rate in Europe. Many of these illnesses, including ADHD, are eminently treatable but for this to happen, early diagnosis is crucial and must be followed up with the administration of the relevant medication and training strategies and facility provision for the child and the parents involved.

The lack of psychotherapists, family therapists, clinical psychologists, occupational therapists and other key staff seriously inhibits the internationally acknowledged best practice for the provision of child and adolescent psychiatric services through multidisciplinary teams.

Mental illness can affect any one of us at any time. It is estimated that one in four of us suffers with a mental illness, but the Government does not seem to recognise this area. Since 1997, the proportion of the total health budget spent in this area has dropped from 11% to under 7%. Mental health has been neglected for too long.

This neglect is manifesting itself now in County Kerry. People were amazed by the "Prime Time" report on the services for young people in County Kerry. I appeal to the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, as a Deputy from a neighbouring county, to take on board the challenge faced at this time by the people who are involved in the services in County Kerry. There is a major difficulty in Kerry. I do not want to exaggerate for the sake of effect, but I appeal to the Minister of State to look to the HSE to draw up a special report based on what an independent "Prime Time" reporter discovered in County Kerry. I trust that he will take on board the points I have made. The issue is too important to ignore and to fail to follow it up with positive initiatives.

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