Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister of State is aware, there is an ongoing crisis in children's mental health services. Thirteen years after the publication of A Vision for Change, the services are still completely understaffed. Too many children continue to be admitted to adult units. Waiting lists and waiting times are long and a renewed focus is needed to reduce deficiencies in the services.

The Minister has been a visitor to my county and I know he is passionate about this issue. In my area I have found that the source of the problem is recruitment and the staffing issue. For example, in July last year, the number of vacancies fell from 51 to ten, which was a positive development in the service. However, there are 248 children currently on the waiting list to be seen.

All of us have had different experiences of parents coming to us with their children, some of whom are very young, who need that assistance and intervention. The effects of that spill over into their attendance at school, their ability to go to school which is something most children take for granted. We cannot emphasise enough the importance of proper mental health services within our regions.

An issue that arose was of children being admitted to adult units. I am sure many Deputies are aware of similar problems. I was not really aware of that until parents came to me about it. I refer to one young first year student who was being admitted to an adult service. The parents were more than shocked and as a result they refrained from taking up that hospital bed because they felt it was not the right place for their child and would add to his illness. That meant they had to give 24-hour care to their child at home. They had three other children in the house. I am not sure how they managed that but they were insistent that was the only way to deal with their child's problem because going into an adult bed or unit was not appropriate for the child. We are all in agreement that is not the way to deal with children who suffer from mental health issues.

The number of children admitted to adult mental health units stood at 65 as of September 2018. If this trend was to continue for the remaining months of 2019, up to 86 or 87 vulnerable young children will be inappropriately accommodated this year, a number that will exceed the previous year. The total number so far is greater than that in 2016 and shows that the standards in this area have regressed, having improved for a number of years prior to that. The Mental Health Commission said it is a clear breach of human rights and in terms of a child's dignity.

In 2017, we also saw a 20% increase in the number of children admitted to adult mental health units. That is unacceptable and it is not the right way to deal with this problem. It is also contrary to State policy. It is especially disappointing as there has been progress in previous years and to see that halt, and in some cases reverse, is an indictment of the way we are treating children with mental health conditions.

We are also concerned that the Department of Health does not track the number of times a child has been readmitted to the same adult mental health unit. The A Vision for Change mental health strategy made clear that Ireland needs at least 100 beds for children and adolescent patients to meet the demand. However, the closure of beds during 2017 meant that at one stage just 52 beds were available for children and adolescent patients.

I cannot emphasise to the Minister of State how passionately I feel about this issue. I know the Minister does also, as do many Members in the House. We all know children, be they relations or constituents, whose parents come to us about this issue. It is usually the last chance saloon for them because they have tried all the other options available to them.

School principals are up against it in terms of keeping their students in school because when a mental health issue gets a grip on young people it is very difficult for them to get control. Parents and schools need this support. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of putting the funding into this area and ensuring that A Vision for Change really is a vision for change.

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