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

The Minister of State rightly mentioned the increase in the number of CAMHS referrals, which amounted to more than 300,000 in the past year, according to what she told me the previous time we spoke. I want to put on record the good work CAMHS staff are doing, despite the challenges, to provide all these appointments. Even so, the number of children who are awaiting their first appointment with CAMHS has doubled, to 4,500, and that is under the Minister of State's watch. CAMHS is only for children with acute and moderate mental health problems, but children with less acute mental health issues are not getting the primary care they need.

A separate response I received earlier indicated that more than 15,000 children are awaiting primary care psychology appointments, and more than 9,000 of these were on the list when the Minister of State came to office. That is an increase of 6,000. Further information I received from the HSE shows there is no additional funding for eating disorders or early-intervention psychosis. Does the Minister of State accept there is a direct connection between children not getting basic primary care and the increase in the number of referrals to CAMHS?

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