Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The news about the treatment of children attending CAMHS in south Kerry was alarming but I firmly believe that the problems there are being replicated in many ways across the State, although hopefully not as seriously. The news of a nationwide audit is welcome but it needs to happen without delay. I hear from those involved with CAMHS there are issues around medication, poor management and nurse dominance and that there is a lack of training, of appropriate resources, career progression and there is a hierarchical status. I hear that there is more emphasis being put on ensuring they are covering themselves so as not to be sued than on real and necessary patient care. Children or their families are often blamed if suggested treatment does not work. Children with a diagnosis of autism will not be admitted to CAMHS yet children with autism are 28 times more likely to consider or attempt suicide. There are also simple things like notice for an appointment not being received by a parent until the day of the appointment or the day after. This is not an isolated incident. This has happened to families attending different CAMHS in different counties.

CAMHS and mental health services in general need to be completely overhauled. I am not saying there are not excellent people working in these services. Of course there are. They do very important work and help many children but it could be done so much better and include so many more children if properly staffed and managed. Over 2,000 children and young people are on waiting lists at any given time. At the end of November there were 3,357 children waiting to be seen. Of those, 221 had been waiting for more than a year. That is leading to heightened mental health issues and costing the State multiples to address further down the line. The funding announcement in budget 2022 of €24 million for mental health services is totally inadequate. Ireland only allocated 5.1% of its health budget to mental health services. The WHO advises that should be 12%. Sinn Féin committed to an additional €113 million of new funding in our alternative budget. Mental health services are starkly underfunded. This needs to be addressed if we are to ever resolve this emergency situation and not allow it to get even worse. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 does not allow for decision supports for people aged under 18 years. That legislation needs to be amended immediately to prepare for the reform of the Mental Health Act, which sees those aged 16 and 17 years give or withdraw consent for mental health treatment.

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