Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. Speaking as a public representative but also as a doctor, I am disturbed and worried by what I have read and heard about what happened with psychiatric services for children in Kerry. I extend my sympathies to the children who have been affected and to their families. What it appears has happened is very serious, including misdiagnosis and overdiagnosis of psychiatric conditions, with children being put on medicines inappropriately and those medicines not being monitored appropriately. These are basic failures of medical care that simply cannot be defended. They should not have happened and should have been identified and acted on much sooner than they were. The most important thing that we can do as a State and health service is to make sure we put in place the services and supports that the children and families need so that we can, if at all possible, rectify and remedy the harm that was done. That will range from good quality psychiatric care for the children who need it to other supports for families to help them manage and deal with what has happened.

The Deputy will be aware that the report has been sent to the gardaí, who may have a role in this, and also to the Medical Council. Ultimately, only the Medical Council has the authority to sanction medical practitioners, if that is appropriate. As the Deputy knows as a Member of this Dáil, having been part of many budget debates, the budget for mental health is now more than €1 billion a year. It has increased dramatically in recent years, by 20% or 30% in the last few years alone. Money and resources do not always solve problems on their own. It can be very difficult to fill consultant posts, even when we are willing to offer a contract worth over €200,000 a year, which is the Sláintecare contract.

The Deputy's own party has been involved in running the health services in Northern Ireland for over 20 years. He will be aware of the difficulties that arise with recruiting specialist staff, not just in this jurisdiction, but also in Northern Ireland and indeed globally.

My thoughts are with the families and children affected by this. To learn of the systemic failings in their care is devastating. I can only imagine how distressing and upsetting it is for the families involved. An integral part of this process was open disclosure in action. Open disclosure has happened on this occasion in a way that is perhaps better than in the past. One of the first things that was done was to provide 240 young people identified as having had deficits in their care, and their families, with meetings. The HSE apologised to each individual at these meetings, and also in writing, for any harm caused. It is clear from the review that there were significant failings in the care provided to children and young people at multiple levels of the system. There were also failings of clinical oversight.

The report has made findings in regard to these and there are recommendations to improve services. The HSE has considered the report locally and nationally and has accepted all of its recommendations. Work is under way to implement it. That will be monitored by the Government. Among the recommendations identified are an assessment of reconfiguration of the service and a full nationwide audit of compliance with CAMHS operational guidelines by all CAMHS teams to make sure that similar problems are not happening in other parts of the country, which I know people will be concerned about. As Deputy Doherty mentioned, a prescribing audit will be conducted for each of the 72 CAMHS teams nationally. There are 72 CAMHS teams across the country and there will be a prescribing audit in each case to see if similar issues might have arisen in other parts of the country. We do not believe that is the case but we want to assure ourselves that it is not the case.

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