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

I thank the Deputy. The Mental Health Commission's interim report into CAMHS is of great concern to me and to Government. The Minister for Health gave us a briefing on it at Cabinet this morning. Any of us working in politics who have a constituency service, anybody who has worked as a GP and many parents will understand that we have had problems in our CAMHS service for quite some time. Many children get very good care from CAMHS but it also falls short for a lot of children. It is a matter of resources, although they have been improved a lot in recent years, and an issue of governance, which needs to be resolved. I am particularly concerned to hear of children who have been prescribed antipsychotic medications being lost to follow-up. That falls very far below the basic standard of care that should be expected in any country. Child or adult, if somebody is prescribed antipsychotic medicines, they have to be followed up, not just six months later, probably even more frequently than that. I am very concerned that occurred and I wish to better understand why it occurred. The HSE is now contacting all of those so-called open cases to make sure those children are being looked after and they get the care they need.

Like the Mental Health Commission, I thank the young people and their families who spoke to the commission and shared their experiences of the CAMHS service. I know it will not have been easy for them and it is incumbent on us to listen and ensure action is taken. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has been clear on this. I will meet with her and the HSE later this week to follow up on the issue. The Minister of State asked for the Mental Health Commission to expand the remit of its report, which is why these findings are now in the public domain. I am advised there is an ongoing exercise of engagement between the Department, the HSE and the Mental Health Commission regarding the findings. It is essential that a full review of open cases by the HSE now takes place to ensure all children and young people are receiving the appropriate care they need. I am told this is under way. The HSE will arrange further clinical follow-up for any child, where required, and it will make direct contact with parents and guardians as necessary. If parents or guardians have a concern, they are invited to contact their key worker. In terms of other actions that will take place this year, a new youth mental health lead post will be created so that there is better clinical governance and clinical control in this area. A new assistant national director level in the HSE will also be created to make sure there is better management.

Regarding Deputy Bacik's questions on the clinical criteria, I do not know the answer. I will ask the Minister of State to come back to her about that. The Government absolutely commits to improving our paediatric and mental health services. They are good by international standards but below the standard we would wish them to be. We are going to do everything we can to raise them in the period ahead. We are going to give consideration to the Mental Health Commission's proposal that it should be allowed to regulate CAMHS. On the face of it, I think it is a good idea, but we need to do the work and the due diligence before we can definitively commit to that.

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