Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Griffin for raising this important issue. I know that I have the support of everyone in the House in working to address the challenges throughout our mental health system, in particular those arising from the report on CAMHS in south Kerry. This is a priority for me and for the Government as a whole.

As Members know, the report by Dr. Seán Maskey was published last Wednesday. Dr. Maskey is an independent consultant psychiatrist working out of Maudsley Hospital in London. I wish to put on the record of the House that the report was completely independent. Not one word was changed or redacted. Sometimes in the HSE reports are not published, sometimes reports are redacted. I welcome the fact that the full report was presented. The HSE has considered the report, acknowledged the systemic failures that occurred over a sustained period and accepted the recommendations put forward. There were many contributory factors which led to this catalogue of failures, including an absence of clinical oversight and appropriate governance and management structures. Work is under way to implement the full suite of recommendations as a matter of priority. Deputy Griffin will be aware that there are 35 recommendations in the report - including an assessment of a reconfiguration of the service - six of which have already been implemented. Implementation of a further 13 has commenced. Implementation of the others has yet to commence.

The HSE has met with 198 of the 240 young people affected and their families to discuss the deficits in their care and to provide them with key information and referral to any necessary services and supports. I note what Deputy Griffin read into the record. I spoke to Michael Fitzgerald, the chief officer, again last Friday and informed him that we must put in place all the supports these young people need, such as talk therapies, cognitive behaviour therapies and so forth. Mr. Fitzgerald indicated that he will revert to me this week. What must be put in place includes, as I said, counselling supports and appropriate services from within the area of child and adult mental health.

The HSE apologised to each individual at the meetings to which I refer in person and, subsequently, in writing last Wednesday for any harm caused. As part of the recommendations a full nationwide audit will be conducted of compliance within CAMHS operational guidelines by all CAMHS teams. I have also directed that there be an independently led prescribing audit in each of the CAMHS teams. This will cover community and inpatient teams. There will be a further independent audit of case files in north Kerry because we know that the relevant non-consultant hospital doctor worked in north Kerry for a time. In addition, the HSE will commission qualitative research to identify the experiences of children, young people and their families using CAMHS nationwide. It is important that we hear from service users all over the country, not only in Kerry, availing of all the supports from the 73 CAMHS teams. I have directed that this three-stranded approach be subject to independent oversight.

In addition, the Government has committed to a non-adversarial scheme for compensation for the children and their families affected by the matters that are the subject of the report. I will ensure that the details of such a scheme are confirmed without delay.

On a separate front, An Garda Síochána in Kerry is in receipt of the detailed and extensive final report, which will now be considered to see if there are grounds to commence a criminal investigation. Although it is not appropriate to comment on human resources or industrial relations matters relating to any individual, the chief executive officer of the HSE has stated that disciplinary action will be taken if appropriate.

I acknowledge that there are significant challenges in our mental health services. The south Kerry CAMHS report is invaluable in addressing these. The Deputy is quite right in speaking about recruitment. There are 85 consultant psychiatrist posts funded for CAMHS and there are currently 79 such consultant psychiatrists in place. There is a vacancy in six roles and Kerry is one of those. The challenges are very stark when it comes to recruitment and it can take up to nine or ten months to fill a post. On many occasions, the person is successful in attaining a post but we cannot get the other post backfilled, which can also cause significant delays.

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