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

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I want to start by recognising the hard work by dedicated staff in the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, in trying to meet the needs of children with mental health difficulties. Any criticism I have is aimed directly at the Government and the systemic failures within the HSE.

I listened to the response of the Government to Deputy Mary Lou McDonald on Leaders' Questions today and was disappointed, but not surprised, by the decision of the Government to kick this important Bill down the road for nine months.

This will, effectively, mean the legislation will not be passed during the lifetime of the Government. I am not surprised because there has been no urgency on the part of the Government to tackle the crisis in children’s mental health. This crisis has escalated to a full-blown emergency on the Government's watch.

When I was named Sinn Féin's spokesperson for mental health, I said I would work in opposition in a tangible and solution-focused way, but my commitment has not been reciprocated. Time and again, the Government has either voted down, amended or, like today, kicked the can down the road when it comes to the solutions that have been put forward. I would love to take credit for having come up with the idea for this legislation to regulate CAMHS, but the fact is it reflects the very first recommendation of the Mental Health Commission in its report on CAMHS. It was the primary recommendation among 49 in the report. The Government's response that this legislation will be dealt with during the reform of the Mental Health Act simply does not wash. There has been zero urgency to reform the Mental Health Act. We first got the heads of this Bill more than three years ago. I took part in the pre-legislative scrutiny at the Sub-Committee on Mental Health that produced the report two years ago and despite calls from me and stakeholders to prioritise the Bill's publication, the Government has failed to do so.

The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, does not have to believe me when I say there is a crisis in mental health, but she should believe the Maskey and the Mental Health Commission reports. She should believe the Ombudsman for Children, who has said CAMHS is unsafe. She should believe the Children's Rights Alliance, which gave children's mental health care another fail in its annual scorecard. She should believe the hundreds of emails I have received, and that she has no doubt received too, from concerned citizens in support of regulating CAMHS.

Even if she does not believe all that, the least she can do is believe parents. As I said, I am disappointed by the Government's decision to kick this legislation down the road, but my disappointment pales into insignificance when it comes to the disappointment parents are feeling. I welcome the representatives of Families for Reform of CAMHS to the Public Gallery. I, along with Deputy McDonald and our party's spokesperson for health, Deputy Cullinane, met them just last night. We heard personal heartbreaking stories from parents about how their children have been failed by CAMHS. One distraught mother told me about her ten-year-old daughter, Maggie. She has already endured cancer and now suffers from depression, anxiety and self-harming behaviour. Maggie was on the urgent list for a year before she was seen by CAMHS. She received assessment for an intellectual disability, but she was not accepted into the services because there was no CAMHS-ID in her area. Maggie is in a mental health crisis. She is receiving no care outside of her family’s support. She is in distress and will not leave her house except to go to school. Maggie's experience is not unique; it is becoming the norm under the Government.

The Mental Health Commission's report into CAMHS highlighted several issues with the service, including children lost to follow-up, a lack of monitoring of psychiatric medications, unacceptable waiting times for high-risk referrals and many more operational issues. Waiting lists have doubled under the Government, with the number of first-time appointments for CAMHS having exceeded 4,400 in 2023. This cannot be allowed to continue. The unacceptable postcode lottery for care continues to exist, with certain counties receiving lower quality care. Children with a dual diagnosis of ill mental health and an intellectual disability have fallen through the cracks, as have neurodiverse children. Parents, children and stakeholders have been highlighting the crisis in children's mental health, which has got worse under the Government. Sinn Féin has engaged with these families and stakeholders. We have listened to their experiences and are taking them seriously.

The legislation is not a panacea, but it is the first step in tackling the crisis in children’s mental health care and will lay the foundation to reduce waiting lists. The Government has dragged its feet on this matter and now it is time to support the legislation. It should not be kicked down the road. Our children cannot wait any longer.

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