Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Since the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, assumed office, I know she has fought tooth and nail for every resource she can get: material, personnel - the whole lot. She has done her best. It goes without saying, however, that the news that has come from Kerry in the past while will dominate my contribution.

I came off a call with Michael Fitzgerald from the South/South West Hospital Group about half an hour ago, and the picture he painted us and what was contained in the report was quite bleak. I have listened to what the HSE has had to say and can safely say that what happened in Kerry with the provision of CAMHS was appalling. The independent review of almost 1,500 children found that 240 young people were adversely affected or identified as having received deficits in their care. That is an alarming number of people and a significant percentage of the 1,500 files reviewed. My thoughts tonight are with all those children and families who were neglected and adversely affected in a variety of ways. I note that some children received "unreliable diagnoses, inappropriate prescriptions and poor monitoring of treatment and potential adverse effects" which "exposed many children unnecessarily to the risk of significant harm". The report continues that significant harm was caused to 46 children and young people, including weight gain, sedation, elevated blood pressure and galactorrhoea, so there have been significant adverse effects on many young people but not what the HSE has described as catastrophic failings. I am not sure what the difference is between significant adverse effects and catastrophic failings. If the Minister of State could ask the HSE what the difference is, I would appreciate feedback. As a father, I know that if my child were misdiagnosed, prescribed incorrect medication, with varying side effects, and not adequately monitored, I would find that to be a catastrophic breach.

In one respect I am glad we have the report. I would now like to know what we will do to improve the services. I note the 35 recommendations. I read through them all this evening and hope they will be followed up on. I implore the Minister of State to do a quarterly review, if possible, on the progress made and the implementation of the recommendations.

I also note that the HSE has unequivocally apologised and has been transparent in the report, and I welcome that, but many questions remain. Are we confident a clinical lead psychiatrist can actually be hired? The HSE has tried to hire one for the Kerry area since 2016 and failed to fill that post. A locum has operated with support to fill the gap, but if we have failed to fill that post for over four years, how confident are we of attracting somebody via normal competition to the post, particularly now, since the successful applicant will have to go in and try to address the situation in south Kerry? If we cannot fill the post through normal competition, the HSE will need to look seriously at redirecting somebody from some other CHO that is performing adequately to south Kerry, rebuilding faith and confidence in the services there. I imagine the people in Kerry are questioning the level of service there at present.

The Minister of State might not be able to speak about the doctor at the centre of all this, but is there any clarification as to whether he is still practising, whether he has been referred to the Medical Council or whether he is subject to any type of investigation or disciplinary action? People need to be aware of the repercussions and the consequences that are there for the person at the centre of all this.

As for the services provided, is the HSE now ploughing resources into this CHO to compensate for years of mistreatment and misdiagnosis? If that is the case, will that have adverse or knock-on effects on adjoining CHOs? As many Deputies here will attest, there is a difficulty in that the waiting lists are quite lengthy and we would be conscious of any potential knock-on effects for adjoining CHOs. I hope the Kerry CHO will get the additional resources it needs to catch up. I hate to use the phrase "catch up", but in this case it has to catch up because it has failed these 240 young people. If that is the case, I know that many of those people will have aged out of CAMHS and possibly progressed to adult mental health services. I would like to know if additional resources will also be ploughed into the area of adult mental health in that CHO.

My last remark is on the Taoiseach's commitment today in respect of a full review across the country. It has to be done. It is necessary. Many of us in our CHOs have concerns, and I welcome the Taoiseach's words in that regard. I just hope and pray that what people are discussing here regarding Kerry is not replicated in other parts of the country.

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