Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The latest Mental Health Commission report into CAMHS must be a wake-up call to the Minister for Health and Government. The issue of access to mental health services for young people is not a new one. It is time for the Government to get its finger out and look at proper solutions to fix this instead of us constantly fumbling around in the dark. The aim of this motion is to provide some solutions for the future of mental health services and to present Sinn Féin's plan for a better future for service users. The Minister and Government should come into this debate with a listening ear. My colleagues, Deputies Mark Ward and David Cullinane, are taking the opportunity to bring forward suggestions to Government to help fix the issues in the service.

We all agree that all young people in this State deserve a chance to reach their full potential and be the best they can be. They need services that are fully resourced and staffed and available when and where they need them, even in areas like education. The removal of a national director for mental health by the Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, in 2016 was a poor decision. It must be reversed immediately. We all need to look at the oversight and regulation of CAMHS. We need to develop a framework around medication, particularly for long-term use, and develop standards of practice that must be adhered to and monitored.

There needs to be more in the way of joined-up thinking when it comes to staffing and resourcing of these services because they are dealing with vulnerable young people daily. It is not acceptable that young people are expected to put up with this service which is not fit for purpose.

See this speech in context