Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Deputies Ward and Cullinane on the Bill. It is a timely and topical Bill. A few months ago, a number of organisations came before the health committee, one of which was the Mental Health Commission. Recently, Families for Reform of CAMHS also came before the committee. The picture they painted, which was very stark and concerning to say the least, was of a service that was dysfunctional and did not provide timely intervention for children. There is something very dispiriting when we see a family coming before a committee to say that children are not getting the intervention they need. That stuck in my mind. When children get the timely intervention, they need there are better outcomes for everybody. We all agree on this.

The report of the Mental Health Commission was extremely stark. One of the statements the commission made, and I had to ask its representatives before the committee to repeat it, was that CAMHS is not safe for children. They said that in certain areas CAMHS was not safe. The report, which makes 49 recommendations, states there are serious deficits in CAMHS and a lack of clinical oversight. Alarm bells are ringing. It also states there is an arbitrary nature to access due to location. It calls for reform and restructuring of CAMHS.

The most important thing about all of its recommendations is whether they will be implemented. Will the Minister of State give a commitment that these recommendations will be implemented? Otherwise, like all the reports we see here, it will just gather dust. The families in the Gallery want these recommendations to be implemented and their children to get timely access.

The Children's Rights Alliance has also been very critical of mental health services for children and adolescents. Recently in a parliamentary question, I asked the HSE how many CAMHS beds in the State were functional. To my surprise, I was told that fewer than 60% of CAMHS beds are operational. A total of 40% of CAMHS beds in the State are not functional because of a lack of staff. This is pretty damning.

I would like to hear what the Minister of State will do about this. This is a very good service when it is functional and when children can get timely intervention. When will families be given reassurance that the service is safe and functional and that their children will get timely intervention? That is all the families want. That is all we want. We want children to get the timely intervention they deserve and should get but that they are not getting. There is something wrong and it is in all of our interests to get that right.

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