Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil do Teachta Connolly a thug an t-am dom chun labhairt inniu. It is alarming to see that demand for acute CAMHS is increasing. More than 2,500 young people are waiting for an initial appointment. Hundreds have been waiting for assessments for more than a year. This situation is unacceptable. It concerns all of us. We hear from families in our offices who are desperately seeking solutions and support and all that we can do is write letters to the Minister, Ministers of State or to the services directly. We need more action in this regard as it is getting worse by the day, unfortunately.

The worsening crisis is leaving more vulnerable children at risk. I have seen cases involving children whose anxiety is so bad that they have had to leave the school they are in and to apply for home tuition. That should not be the case. If the preventative measures were in place, it would not reach that point. We need to take stock of what is happening and put actions in place. It is shameful that preventative mechanisms and supports or services to deal with mental health problems before they become serious in children, teenagers and adults are not in place. Very often, the wait for children and teenagers is too long and they can be in distress for over 12 months. It is not much different for adults, who are also being put on long waiting lists for appointments.

It is unacceptable to have these waiting lists when we now know so much more about mental health. We have never had as many reviews and as much emphasis and people are coming out and speaking about it. However, in the absence of action, we are going nowhere with regard to getting to grips with this issue. It is worrying that doctors who have not specialised in the area of mental health are also trying to fill the gap. This needs to be investigated and dealt with.

The escalating crisis is a national scandal. It is a failure of our system that children, the most vulnerable in our society, are being admitted to adult wards, which has been happening for years because there are not sufficient beds. This has to change. I have met many distressed families who are worn out trying to fight for vital basic services for their children. They feel frustrated and feel they are doing this against the odds, with little or no support and in desperation at times.

If we did not have organisations such as Jigsaw and other voluntary mental health services, as well as the many GAA clubs throughout the State, which have also done their bit in regard to mental health, this crisis would be far worse. Thank God, we have all those people in place to help and play their part. I take this opportunity to commend all of those in these organisations, in many communities. These organisations are filling a gap left by the absence of other adequate services and supports in our system, which is failing children. Many organisations find it difficult to continuously fill that gap and many have told me they are stretched to the limit, so we need more HSE intervention.

Adults living in remote rural areas who experience social isolation have also been failed to a degree by the lack of support. It would be worse only for people in their communities who are active on this issue, such as key community activists, as well as organisations such as the Men's Shed, a fantastic initiative which came from Australia. I attended the briefing on it here a few months ago and was amazed at what it has achieved in such a short time. If it were not for those organisations stepping up to the mark, we would be in a far worse situation today.

We need Government-led initiatives in dealing with all of the problems across society for both young and old, men and women. We have to deal with the problem through preventative measures. We need to respond to the crisis we face in a timely manner. By doing so, we will prevent the heartache and distress that has already been experienced by too many families and individuals throughout this State. We need urgent and meaningful action. The recent reports are a wake-up call. They show we have an increasing number of teenagers and young adults experiencing anxiety and taking antidepressants. Surely that is the wake-up call we need to take this urgent action once and for all to make sure we are serving and protecting them as best we can.

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