Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Is oth liom a rá gur uafásach ar fad an méid a dúirt an Teachta Dála. Tá sé ag iarraidh comparáid nó juxtaposition a dhéanamh idir an méid atá déanta i gcúrsaí oideachais agus an infheistíocht i gcúrsaí sláinte. Tá infheistíocht an-mhór déanta i gcúrsaí sláinte i rith na mblianta, go háirithe i sláinte leanaí, idir sláinte choirp agus sláinte aigne.

The Deputy's attempts to juxtapose a once-off €9 million expenditure on mobile phones with the broader and serious issue of mental health for children is despicable and disgraceful. It is a conflation and a deliberate attempt to propagandise, to try to grab something out of the budget and situate it in the context of mental health services for children.

Some €143 million was secured by the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, in this year's Estimate for mental health. In respect of mental health, 2% of the child population will need to access CAMHS. We have invested significantly in CAMHS over the past four years. We want to prevent children from developing anxiety and mental health challenges. The more action we take at the preventative stage, the better for the child and people more generally. I met Dr. Fauci when he was here. It is now acknowledged that the biggest public health challenge to children is social media and access online. The Deputy just ignores all of that for a cheap political stunt and headline. Can we not have a sensible discussion about mental health? I do not mind taking criticism but this is a superficial, shallow juxtaposition of a once-off expenditure to resource schools to once and for all deal with one of the most significant public health challenges to children by banning the use of mobile phones during the school day. It is one thing to say that but it is more important to resource that properly. Do not give me the bit about the old plastic bag which one of Sinn Féin's Deputies had - more cheap, superficial stuff. I have been in education. Principals always said to me not to come up with an initiative if you are not going to resources it properly. This is once-off expenditure. It will mean, definitively, that we put mobile phones out of use during the school day. That is in the best interests of the mental health of children.

In Northern Ireland, a similar programme was developed on a pilot basis and neither the Deputy, nor the Sinn Féin party and nor its finance and economy minister said anything because they probably accepted at the time that it was a legitimate initiative to try to protect children from the undoubted pressures of social media - the bullying, undermining of self-esteem and harassment from which serious mental health problems arise. Then, there is the educational achievement and development side where concentration is interrupted repeatedly, people's focus is interrupted and their learning capacity and journey are undermined and interrupted. That is the motivation.

In respect of CAMHS more generally, we want to reduce waiting lists. They are coming down but not by enough. Referrals are increasing significantly. There are 225,000 appointments for children and young people annually across 77 community teams. That is the scale of CAMHS today. CAMHS has increased and expanded significantly from 2011 to 2021 and 2021 to now. Referral rates to CAMHS are up 33%. We need to prevent children getting to the stage where they have to be referred to CAMHS.

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