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

The failings in CAMHS was mentioned again and I addressed this earlier in response to Deputy Bacik's question during Leaders Questions. I accept the assertion that action is urgently needed. Deputy McDonald is absolutely right about that. Funding has been increased and will be increased further. Staffing levels have almost doubled in the past ten years and they will be increased more. We are going to appoint a new national clinical lead for youth mental health so that there is better clinical governance and clinical leadership. There will also be an assistant national director for youth mental health so that there is better management. There will be a new consultant contract, which is very attractive by international standards, which will hopefully lead to the recruitment of more psychiatrists. We also need to develop from a psychiatric-led model of youth mental health care but that is an issue for another day. We will give consideration to the Mental Health Commission's recommendation that it be given regulatory oversight of youth mental health services. That is a good idea on the face of it but we need to do due diligence on it.

Deputy Tóibín spoke about emergency department overcrowding which happens for lots of different reasons. It is related to capacity in hospitals; there are not enough beds but we are increasing the number of beds every year. It is also about community care and making sure that people can get out of hospital more quickly and are less likely to end up in hospital in the first place. It is also about patient flow and making sure that when patients are admitted, they get the tests and treatments they need in two or three days, not five or six days. The average length of stay in Ireland could be reduced further. The overcrowding is also happening against a backdrop of a rising population and one that is increasingly ageing. We have the highest life expectancy in all of the European Union now. That is in part a reflection of the quality of much of our health service. Of course, we are also seeing increasing frailty.

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