Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Nobody in this House believes that we will be sitting here in nine months. This Dáil will be gone by then. The Minister of State, therefore, is not just stopping or delaying this Bill, she is torpedoing it. That is unfortunate because the Bill seeks to give statutory powers to the Mental Health Commission to regulate CAMHS. It would allow for the implementation of the commission's recommendations and for it to monitor that implementation. This is an important Bill. We felt obliged to submit it because if we were to wait for the Government to take action, the necessary changes would not come about. The reform of the Mental Health Act 2001 is mentioned in the programme for Government but four years after the latter was published, little or no action has been taken.

Children deserve better. They deserve better than being obliged to wait for treatment. They deserve better than a postcode lottery as to when they will be seen. A child facing a mental health challenge is heartbreaking. It impacts their formative younger years. Not only is it a frightening challenge for that young person, but it also places immense pressure on their parents, their siblings, their schoolmates, their teachers and their communities. Early intervention is so important and often makes a major difference. Childhood is a fleeting time. Where help is needed, it should be offered as soon as possible.

There is a fantastic group in Limerick that offers incredible support to children facing difficult challenges. I refer to the Bedford Row Family Project. I met some representatives of the group yesterday. They are currently battling to secure funding to maintain the group into the future. After a quarter of a century, and its 25th anniversary, the Bedford Row Family Project is facing closure. It has provided coping skills to children and their parents. These people are some of the unsung heroes of our children's mental health service.

CAMHS waiting lists have increased under this Government. There are 3,891 children and young people on waiting lists, with 196 of those being in my CHO area. This is an emergency but it is not being treated as such. We have seen from recent reports, and the Maskey report in particular, that there are significant problems with CAMHS. For far too long in this State, mental health issues have been treated as the poor relation of the health service. Proposed changes and supports never seem to arise. We have been waiting in Limerick for the roll-out of a trial 24-7 mental health de-escalation unit. Every time I seek updates in this regard, I am told it is on the cusp of being launched, but we have not seen it delivered. If the Government were serious about mental health protection, the unit would have been up and running already. These children on the mental health waiting lists have been waiting long enough for the Minister of State. Her type of approach to mental health needs to change.

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