Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

In so far as there is any progress, I welcome it. Surely the whole point of the Ministry becoming a senior one is that it must have an overview of child protection. In a certain sense the Minister should not respect ministerial demarcations because otherwise one could ask what is the point. Talk of €16 million for priority cases and front-line services does not address the point that is being raised by the IMO, namely, that there are chronic shortages of staff for child mental health teams.

The one example I have given the Minister is of a situation where there are only eight staff where A Vision for Change suggests 38 are necessary. That is a chronic shortage. It is difficult to see how children and teenagers who require those services are getting them. In fact, we are being told the services are only taking emergency cases. This is a real problem. The Ministry must have an overview and must blow the whistle. Otherwise, all the commitments in the world in Children First mean very little.

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