James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will be sharing my time with Deputy Rabbitte. We will be taking five minutes each. I am glad that we are taking statements on mental health tonight and that as a Dáil, we are keeping mental health on the agenda. I welcome the opportunity to again discuss mental health in this Chamber. It cannot be discussed enough. I acknowledge there recently have been a number of positive developments in mental health including the new 24-hour mental health helpline, the development of a number of clinical programmes, and the building of the forensic mental health hospital at Portrane. There are, however, also some serious areas of concern. I refer, in particular, to the many failures to implement policy within our mental health services. It is now 2019, some 13 years into A Vision for Change, our ten-year national mental health strategy. Many of the issues faced by patients and their families are totally unacceptable and unnecessary. I will highlight some of the issues concerning people.

First, I will raise the issue of our child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. This is our acute mental health service for children and adolescents, which addresses the 10% that make up the most acute circumstances that affect our young people's mental health. These services are seriously understaffed. Only 57% of the staff number recommended in A Vision for Change are in place. In two areas, CHO 5 and CHO 7, fewer than 50% of the necessary staff members are in place while only 7.6% of the necessary staff are in place for children with intellectual disabilities.

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