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

The crisis in child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, has escalated to a full-blown emergency. On the watch of this Government, waiting lists for first-time appointments have increased dramatically, while the number of young people waiting more than one year has nearly trebled. It is virtually impossible to access services. The reviews into CAMHS by the Mental Health Commission and the Maskey report were damning. The system is plagued not only by dangerous waiting times but also by alarming issues with clinical governance, high staff turnover and recruitment problems, and the absence of an out-of-hours emergency service. Vulnerable, at-risk children and young people are locked out of the urgent mental health care they so desperately need. They spend years crying out for help and knocking on the door of a system that is broken. It is a wilderness for children and young people suffering with severe depression, anxiety and suicide ideation. Even when young people get inside the system they face alarming levels of dysfunction. Children are prescribed powerful antipsychotic medications with very little intervention. Often, vital follow-up care disappears and children get lost in the system. Children with disabilities in need of a dual diagnosis and mental health care are sent from pillar to post and they fall through the cracks. Those who turn 18 years are cut off and directed to the adult system.

Last night, Teachtaí David Cullinane and Mark Ward and I met with Families for Reform of CAMHS. Their experiences are heartbreaking. One distraught mother told me about her ten-year-old daughter, Maggie. She had already endured cancer and she now suffers with depression, anxiety and self-injurious behaviour. Maggie was on the urgent list for a year before she received a CAMHS meeting. She received an assessment for an intellectual disability but she was not accepted into the service because there is no specialist in the area. Maggie is in a full-blown mental health crisis. She receives no care. She is in distress and she does not leave the house apart from going to school.

Another mother told me about her teenage daughter who suffers from severe anxiety, depression and constant panic attacks. She would not leave the house and withdrew from her friends. She deteriorated by the day. When referred to CAMHS she was told she would have to wait a minimum of six months. It then took a further two months to get a reply from her first meeting and another three months for a follow-up appointment. This mother had to chase and chase to get care for her daughter. After a 15-month ordeal,there has been some improvement but this young woman has missed almost one year of school. These children are not alone. Their stories are replicated in the thousands. Children deserve better.

Tá níos fearr tuillte ag páistí. Níor chóir go mbeadh orthu fanacht cráite agus trína chéile le haghaidh sheirbhísí meabhairshláinte. Ní mór don Rialtas gníomhú anois láithreach. Sinn Féin's Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2023, which is before the Dáil this evening, calls for change as a first step. It gives the Mental Health Commission the statutory power to regulate CAMHS. This would empower the commission to implement its 49 recommendations for improvement, tackle the waiting lists and end the scandal of children being inappropriately admitted to adult acute psychiatric wards.

Will the Minister support the Sinn Féin Bill tonight? Will the Government vote in favour of the Sinn Féin Bill tonight?

See this speech in context