Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the work she is doing in this area. It is extremely challenging in that it is not just about money but also about recruiting an adequate number of staff. That is where the challenge is posed across the healthcare system. For instance, last year more than €1.1 billion was provided for mental health care, while the figure this year is €1.49 billion. It is a substantial budget, but this is about ensuring that we can get staff in place in all the areas they are required. Mental health is not just about providing care for the people who need it, but also about providing care for the people who themselves provide care in that setting. That is one of the issues. Let us take the example of accredited counsellors and psychotherapists. A supervisor is in place to ensure there is what we would call a gatekeeper in that context. Unfortunately, given what we have heard in respect of the report from Kerry, there was no such gatekeeper in the context of the person who was prescribing drugs.

In the context of people who are inpatients, the mental health tribunals provide checks and balances. The same level of checks and balances is not in place for those attending day care services and we must examine this aspect. Mental Health Ireland, MHI, has clearly detailed that one in ten children and young people will require some level of care because of depression, anxiety or a conduct disorder. That could be because of what is happening in their lives or what is happening around them. It is important that we put in place the necessary support for them. The important thing to take from this report published this morning is the need for a clinical lead in each of the CAMHS areas. It is important that those posts are put in place.

I came across someone dealing with my legal office who was on medication for more than 15 years. The person was admitted to hospital, and one of the doctors advised that person to stay off all medication for some time. He went cold turkey because of the amount of medication he had been on. That is why it is important to ensure there are checks and balances in the system.

Dr. Sean Maskey, the consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist who produced this report, made 35 recommendations. I will quote from four of them that I think are important. He refers to the need to develop clear written guides for the use of antipsychotic medication. He also states that the way medications for mental health illnesses in CAMHS are used should be checked every year. Equally, doctors who want blood tests for patients should ask for them, but they should then check the results themselves. Finally, Dr. Maskey recommends that the clinical reports from the team should be shared with GPs and others who may refer children. Dr. Maskey has set out those 35 recommendations, and our target must now be the fast and efficient delivery of those recommendations. We must ensure they are implemented in full at an early date to enable us to provide the requisite level of care to young people who need it and also to support their families.

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