Martin Ferris (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A friend and constituent of mine, Ms Daniella Russell from my home village of Ardfert, was featured on RTÉ's "The Big Picture - Young and Troubled" broadcast last week after her mother, Joyce, had been forced by the State to bring her daughter to England to be treated on foot of the HSE's refusal to give her treatment in a specialist facility in Dublin. The Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, emailed my office the day before last week's programme was aired to tell me that Daniella's mother had requested referrals to Lois Bridges, a private unit in Dublin that offers alternative forms of treatment to those with eating disorders. The girl is skin and bone and very lucky to be still alive. The HSE has advised that there are beds available in the Sliabh Mis unit and wishes to ensure all options within our own services have been explored sufficiently. Unfortunately, our own services have been explored but not successfully because they are not sufficient. My office was contacted yesterday by the mother of a 17 year old girl from County Kerry who had just been released from University Hospital Kerry after trying for a second time to take her own life. Last June, or almost 12 months ago, a request was made for funding to start dialectical behaviour therapy, but it has not yet been approved. The families of these two young girls are on a knife edge. Daniella will not survive unless she receives the proper treatment and I fear for the life of the other girl unless she also receives the proper treatment.

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