Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It will be no surprise to the Minister of State that I will talk about children's mental health, the crisis in children's mental health services and the false promises made by the Government. In May 2022, 11 crucial CAMHS beds were closed in Linn Dara. The Minister of State with responsibility for mental health and the then Taoiseach said that they would be reopened in September 2022. We are now in March 2023 and there is no sign of these beds being reopened. These were more false promises. There is an impact due to this. Because children are not getting the care they need, when they need it and where they need it, they are more likely to need the acute services or CAMHS. Of the 11,000 children who are waiting for primary care psychology services, 4,000 have been waiting for over one year to get a psychology appointment. In addition, 5,000 children are waiting for an initial assessment with CAMHS, and that has not been delivered either. Only 75% of beds in CAMHS are in operation.

Last year, 741 children went to accident and emergency departments with mental health issues because they could not get the care they needed, where they needed it and when they needed it.

Deputy Higgins talked about her constituency and community; it is also my community. I sometimes think we live in a parallel universe when I hear what is going on. I refer to the issues around primary care centres. There are none in Rowlagh or Lucan. There is not one in the whole of Dublin Mid-West. The lack of access to GPs and general health care, as well as the lack of access to housing for healthcare professionals, have happened under Fine Gael's watch. There have been 12 years of Fine Gael in government. The Minister cannot point out all the problems and say, "It is not our fault." when it absolutely is. It is time the Government got its act together because the people of Dublin Mid-West do not forget.

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