Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá an méid a tharla sna seirbhísí meabhairshláinte i gContae Chiarraí scannalach gan dabht. Ní hamháin gur ligeadh síos na páistí seo ach rinneadh dochar dóibh agus gortaíodh iad. Cuireadh na páistí agus déagóirí seo i mbaol. Tá impleachtaí móra anseo maidir leis an muinín atá ag daoine anois sna seirbhísí meabhairshláinte ar fud an Stáit. Tá géarchéim sna seirbhísí seo agus ní géarchéim ó inniu nó inné í seo. Tá post ann go gcaithfear líonadh agus tá ais-amharc iomlán de dhíth ann anois. Níl sé maith go leor go bhfuil saolta agus sláinte ár bpáistí i mbaol.

The findings of the south Kerry child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, review are shocking. They should be troubling for all of us. Anybody following this story will know how distressing the details are and how devastating this must be for those children and their families who were so let down by the State. Not only were they let down by the State, but they were harmed by the State. Forty-six young people suffered significant harm, with a further 200 put at significant risk. This harm ranged from extreme tiredness to high blood pressure, excessive weight gain and the production of breast milk. Hundreds of children were misdiagnosed. They were put on a dangerous combination of medication. They were left to their own devices with a serious lack of follow-ups or checks about their medications. One family told a colleague of mine that they were so concerned about the changes in their child's behaviour and appearance that they challenged the doctor, only for the doctor to threaten to report them to Tusla. That is disgraceful.

Failures in clinical governance and oversight have had real consequences for the health and well-being of these children. Those consequences will last for a long time. There was no consultant psychiatrist to provide clinical oversight. As soon as a locum consultant, Dr. Sharma, was appointed, he saw the problems immediately. He must be credited for the fast, decisive action that he took as a whistleblower. The treatment that he received as a whistleblower needs to be investigated. He claims that he was asked to take time off and reassigned from his clinical role to administrative duties. He resigned because he felt his position was undermined and that needs to be examined.

I welcome that there will be audits of adherence to clinical guidelines and prescription practices. My colleague Deputy Ward and Sinn Féin have called on the Government to do this since March of last year. It has belatedly agreed to do this in the last week. That is not enough. It is only three years since three consultant psychiatrists resigned from CAMHS in Waterford and Wexford because of how poor and unsafe the conditions were due to understaffing. Yesterday, we learned that more than 50 children were inappropriately placed in adult psychiatric units over the last two years. They were units that were unfit and unsafe for young people. It is not just one person or one area. This is a systemic failure for our young people and patients in many areas across the State. It goes back to understaffing and under-resourcing and substantial vacancies in consultant and nursing posts. This is not the story of today or yesterday. One in five consultant psychiatrist posts is either vacant or filled on a temporary basis. Some of these posts have been vacant for years and years.

This issue has plagued our mental health services for the best part of a decade. In that time, the Tánaiste has been Taoiseach, Tánaiste, and Minister for Health, and throughout that time, he has sat at the Cabinet table. There needs to be a step change from the Government, not more apologies. We want action and for the system to be fixed. What will the Tánaiste do to ensure that child and adolescent mental health services are fit for purpose? Will he ensure that the review that has been commissioned will look not only at the guidelines for prescription practices but also at the capacity and gaps in the service?

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