Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The self-harm intervention programme mentioned by the Minister of State is actually based in Waterford. It is one of the places we rang after 5 p.m. At 5.15 p.m. the telephone was not being answered. One of the parents who contacted me recently has a ten-year old boy who has been diagnosed with severe verbal and oral dyspraxia, a sensory process disorder and as suffering from high anxiety. It is suspected that he has other undiagnosed disorders. CAMHS has seen him, but it does not believe it can help him. It has closed his case but never notified his mother who wrote to us. I would like to quote a few of her words:

My son wants to be dead. He is ten years of age. I spend my days trying to convince him being alive and with his family is more fun. My son is majorly suffering but nobody seems to care. We are on the psychology waiting list for two years now. I spend my time trying to convince him being alive is so much better even if it doesn't feel like it. It is heartbreaking watching him suffer and listening to how he feels about himself and why he thinks being dead is the answer to his problems. He wants to know why he is different, why he has struggled so much, but I don't have the answers.

What I do not understand is why there has not been a greater emphasis on psychotherapy. There are psychotherapy services available in the county. I know that the HSE was hiring, but psychologists are not in place. There are two CAMHS services in the county and two leaders. It is not good enough. There has to be a rethink.

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