Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his very important question. The development of all aspects of mental health services nationally, including those for children and young people, remains a priority for me and the Government. This is reflected in the current programme for Government and in the significant additional funding allocated to mental health in budget 2021.  As the Deputy will know, an additional €50 million was secured, which will bring the overall budget to €1.076 billion. Of that €50 million, €23 million has been allocated to commence the implementation of many of the short-term recommendations of Sharing the Vision, including the expansion of CAMHS hubs.  It is expected that 148 additional staff will be recruited in 2021 by the HSE, of whom 29 will be in CAMHS.

As the Deputy will be aware, CAMHS admissions are prioritised by clinical need. CHO 4 continues to take a proactive approach, with a focus on reducing CAMHS waiting times to improve access to a safe and effective service.  In the past eight months, even with Covid, much progress has been made. The waiting list in the CHO 4 area, which covers counties Cork and Kerry, was 352 in October 2020, a reduction from 573 in October 2019. Of those, 78 had been waiting to access CAMHS services for longer than 12 months, a reduction of 49% since January 2020.  In October 2020, 93% of all accepted referrals were offered a first appointment within 12 weeks and, of those referrals, 96% were seen within 12 weeks. I will address the issue further in subsequent replies.

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