Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will give the Minister of State some figures. More than 8,000 children are waiting on appointments of primary care psychology, 3,000 of whom are waiting for more than a year. In excess of 4,000 children are waiting for CAMHS appointment, of whom more than 400 are waiting more than a year. If these children get the service they need at an early age, they are less likely to need the more acute services that are provided by such services as Linn Dara when they get older. Does the Minister of State agree that early intervention is key? How will the Government address these failings in the children's mental health service?

These are children; they are not statistics. Behind each one of these children, there are hopes, dreams and ambitions and they are being stalled at present.

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