Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

With respect, that is all just rhetoric. The problem is the Government is not responding to Maggie. She is ten years old. She is receiving no services. She is in a full-blown crisis and her mother is desperate.

That is Maggie's story. The Minister's assertions do not change that fact at all. What is the response for Maggie? Is it a Minister taking to his feet and rattling off figures and budgetary arithmetic? That is all well and good, but the problem is it is not responding to Maggie. It is not answering the needs of that family. I appreciate that Deputies across the House, including the Ministers, have heard these stories. I can only imagine their frustration listening to that. If I were sitting where they are, I would be frustrated by a Government that clearly has large resources at its disposal but is failing and whose only response to reasonable and important legislation to ensure that CAMHS is regulated appropriately is to kick the can down the road for six or nine months. I asked whether the Government would support this important step forward. The answer to that is “No”. The Minister just did not have the heart to answer me directly.

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