Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ward for bringing forward this motion and all his work and advocacy on mental health. The motion clearly calls for straightforward reform so that resourcing is matched with staffing and services are available when and where they are needed. That is one of the key issues because my experience with CAMHS is that people have difficulty accessing the service. First, the referral can be quite daunting. They are also fobbed off in many cases.

In community healthcare organisation, CHO 5, which is the catchment area of my constituency, 314 children have been waiting more than 12 months for an appointment. These are 314 extremely vulnerable children. A recent case of mine involved a child who was suicidal, presented to their GP when they had been on the list for CAMHS for two years at that point and was told there was a drop-in psychology clinic, which was completely inappropriate. This child really needed the intervention of CAMHS. They were undergoing some level of counselling but we all know there is a difference between counselling and therapy and the very specialised intervention some children need with CAMHS. This child had to present to the emergency room in the end to get that appointment. As a public representative making representations, it was only when the appointment was given through the emergency department that the service came back to us to say there was an appointment, which I found quite cynical.

Tme and again I say in this Chamber that we are letting our children down. In a meeting today of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, we listened to parents trying to fight for the most basic services for their children with disabilities and here we are talking about children with mental health difficulties being failed. I urge all Deputies not just to support the motion; I call on the Government to ensure it is acted upon, we get the staff in place and the process is made much easier and more straightforward for parents.

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