Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very serious issue. Unfortunately, mental health services in this State are in a very bad way. We have problems with waiting lists, staffing levels and resources, to name but a few. This is having a very direct and noticeable impact on the people who need these

services.

I would like to take this opportunity to tell the Minister of State and the House about a woman with whom I am dealing. Her young son was referred to the CAMHS team in my area. He has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, and oppositional defiant disorder, ODD and threatened to take his own life. One can only imagine how his mother was feeling and what she went through. She was incredibly upset by the whole situation and was extremely worried about her son but was told that she would be waiting for up to a year for her son to be seen by the CAMHS team. That is not good enough.

We have heard from staff who work in this area who speak of being unable to meet the level of demand. Under-staffing and the inability to recruit staff is placing enormous pressure on our mental health services. In my own area, the CAMHS staffing level last year was two thirds of what was recommended in A Vision for Change. We must ask why the staffing levels are so low.

A Vision for Change was published in 2006. Why, 13 years on, are we still facing these issues? The reality is that in comparison with 13 years ago, many more young people are presenting to CAMHS and presentations are generally much more complex. Yet, in 2018, the number of mental health services staff decreased by 4% between the start of the year and November. This is a recurring theme in agencies dealing with our young people. Tusla is another example of where teams are operating with low staffing levels and cannot meet the demands placed on them. What does the Government propose to do to recruit and retain staff? I am concerned, as I am sure is every other Member, that we will end up in the vicious circle of a lack of staff resulting in stress and increased workloads on existing staff and, in turn, an inability to retain staff. We need to break this cycle. The Government needs to examine what initiatives it can take to help.

Mental health services funding and resources, unfortunately, have always been an after-thought. This cannot continue. The Minister and the Government have an obligation to our young people. They need to ensure that adequate funding and resources are available to mental health services and that children, wherever they are in this State, can access treatment and services in a timely manner.

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