Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. He referred to 64 community CAMHS teams. I wonder how many of them are fully staffed. That is one issue I would have. The Sláintecare report was recently debated in the Dáil and while the work involved in producing it was difficult, it was a very good learning experience. We had cross-party agreement on a lot of it. There is a strong emphasis in the report on funding for mental health services as well.

We had raised the €37.5 million extra to be put into mental health services early last year but we did not get the full support. Could we even get a commitment? I know the Minister of State is new to the job. However, we need to 24-7 crisis services and across the country. The Minister of State has seen it. One of the Wexford county mayors said that it is disgraceful that people have to travel so far when they need immediate help. I do not wish to put the Minister of State in a position but we have to ask the question. Could he make a commitment to go so far as bringing out a pilot system of 24-7 services. We know that it is not a Monday to Friday job; it is the weekends and the out-of-hours. Families are suffering as well as the patients. As I said, if they have to travel from one county to another to access help, we will lose a lot more people in this country. Will the Minister of State please make a commitment to invest in mental health services? I ask him not to let families suffer.

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