Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I recently met Dr. Brendan Doody, the director of child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. I was highly impressed by Dr. Doody and do not have any reason to doubt the information he provides. He gathers information on mental health that is not gathered by anyone else. Despite the fact that our child and adolescent mental health service is new, he has gathered information on the service which we do not have for the adult mental health services that have been in place since God was a boy. He receives this information every month. If only we had similar information in areas such as disability, Travellers and so forth as we would have an incredible service and would know where to direct funding. This has been a difficulty in the delivery of services in the past.

I thank Deputy Conway for raising this issue in which she has shown a strong interest. Child and adolescent mental health services need focus. Against a backdrop of reducing resources and increased demand for services, reflected in an increase in child and adolescent psychiatric referrals of almost 10%, the Health Service Executive succeeded in reducing the child and adolescent waiting list by more than 21% in 2011. This clearly highlights the fact that in mental health we are facing the challenges presented and we can and will continue to make improvements and do more with less.

Key to the development of child and adolescent mental health services is the establishment of multidisciplinary teams, of which 61 are currently in place. In that regard, I was pleased to announce a special allocation of €35 million for mental health as part of budget 2012 in line with the programme for Government commitments. Funding from this special allocation will be used primarily to strengthen community mental health teams in both adult and children's mental health services by ensuring, at a minimum, that at least one of each mental health professional discipline is represented on every team. Approximately 400 additional staff will be recruited to support these initiatives.

The Deputy drew attention to the 241 children who have been waiting for more than 12 months for an appointment at the end of 2011. I note this is a reduction of almost 29% on the number waiting at the end of 2010. I assure the House that all referrals received by the child and adolescent mental health service are screened and those deemed urgent are seen as a priority, while those deemed to be routine are placed on a waiting list. I am anxious that children are seen as quickly as possible. For this reason, the national service plan 2012 includes targets that 70% of all new and re-referred cases will be offered a first appointment and seen within three months and no child will wait longer than 12 months for an appointment. I am confident that with the additional resources provided to the child and adolescent service from the special allocation of €35 million, these targets can be achieved.

As Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, I am committed to ensuring the implementation of A Vision for Change. In this context, I am particularly keen to advance service provision for young people. The data shows the HSE made considerable progress in the delivery of child and adolescent mental health services in 2011. I will do all I can to ensure this momentum is maintained in the current year.

See this speech in context