Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As the Deputy is aware, the child and adolescent mental health services in Cork have eight community-based teams. This requires eight consultant positions as well as nursing staff, occupational therapists, social workers and other posts.

The Deputy is well aware that two of the consultant positions have been vacant for some time. Unfortunately, recruitment efforts are still ongoing. Local and international advertising for a locum consultant is ongoing but unfortunately the efforts have been unsuccessful.

As the Deputy has stated, there is currently a serious shortage of consultant psychiatrists specifically for the child and adolescent mental health services. This is the case not only in Ireland but throughout the globe.

Engagement with voluntary providers has occurred and has been explored but, again, this has not yielded any results, unfortunately. I assure the Deputy that the recruitment process is under way and we are trying to fill these posts as quickly as possible.

In the interim, despite the difficulty, the HSE is working to provide the best possible service with the staff available. A key focus is to manage the clinical risks and to prioritise referrals accordingly. Referrals are prioritised according to their acuity and severity. Essentially young people and children who have psychosis, severe depression and high-risk behavioural issues or eating disorders are generally seen within 24 hours. This is not only the case in Cork.

All efforts are being made to support the teams with additional therapy and administration resources. The HSE acknowledges – as do I - that the lack of consultant cover is having a considerable impact on access to services. We know 76 beds are available. However, with some of the vacant consultant posts, only 66 of these are operational. This causes major problems. I emphasise that while there are difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff, this is not a funding issue. Funding has been made available and has been approved. Additional funding of €15 million will move to €35 million next year. These have been approved in the budget, which is now at €853 million.

I assure the Deputy that while we face challenges, this recruitment process is ongoing and everything is being done to try to fill the posts.

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