Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There has been a lot of talk this evening. In the two and a half years since I was elected, I have stood on the floor of this House probably some 12 or 14 times to speak on CAMHS-related issues. I will say that the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has always listened. I have always got action.

We are at the stage we are at tonight because Deputy Butler insisted on the review. It is a timely review. It was instructed in April. We have an interim report. It is a serious, damning interim report.

I commend the good staff that are in CAMHS. We have three CAMHS units in Wexford. There is not a full complement of staff, which in itself, causes problems. There are many issues for the staff within the CAMHS units. I do not want to label them but there are issues that certainly need to be addressed. I have voiced them on the floor of the House but I expect that this is where we now start. The days of talking, as my colleagues have said, do not come to an end but there has to be talk of action. I will not repeat what everyone has said.

I commend Dr. Finnerty on having the courage to bring out an interim report. I commend Dr. Niall Muldoon, who is the Ombudsman for Children. I commend Mr. John Farrelly. These are all people from whom we have heard the problems previously but we now have an in-depth review that the Minister of State instructed. Let the Minister of State not forget that. It is a proactive step and it has to continue in that frame.

Money, in many of our health services, is not an issue. It is an issue here. There are some disparities that need to be addressed. We need to provide a dedicated fund to CAMHS. A dedicated CAMHS fund is strictly what the report says. For instance, in Wexford, we had an issue with a child psychologist. We had a child psychologist available to us for two years. She was ready and able to take the position but, because she was not part of the panel, she was not eligible. That type of crap - excuse me putting is straight - has to change. We cannot have a system that obstructs the focus of helping our children with their mental health. We have to be practical. We are short-staffed. We have a retention and recruitment crisis. We cannot keep saying we have it; we have to do something about it. If a child psychiatrist who held the position previously was available, it is only a matter of somebody knocking heads together and saying that here we have a child psychiatrist who wants the job and to give it to her. We now have a child psychiatrist but that is not the point. Two years went by in which we did not have one.

I look forward to the future. I look forward to assisting the parents who will come to me with their problems.

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