Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am determined to make further progress through the national office for child and youth mental health in the HSE, which as developed a new youth mental health action plan, published in February. This three-year plan for comprehensive reform across all youth mental health services sets out a roadmap to ensure all children and families have the pathway we have discussed. The new action plan aims to enhance integrated care across youth services, including supporting children and young people who have co-existing neurodevelopmental and mental health needs, which is the area we have been talking about.

I checked out the mental health with intellectual disability, ID, team last week after the Deputy raised it in the Dáil. Mental health ID teams are a little different from CAMHS. They are multidisciplinary and might have nine to 12 positions. Across the board, mental health and ID teams are led by consultant psychiatrists who can deal with psychiatry and intellectual disability and it only takes four members of staff across the team. My understanding is that the consultant is in place and the auxiliary staff are being recruited at the moment. However, I understand the urgency of this area. What I have tried to do in the past five years with the 44% increase in all the various budgets is to build incrementally. There are two new mental health ID teams this year, along with two eating disorder teams and four ADHD teams for adults. They are being built incrementally. The pay and numbers strategy will not be an issue because these posts are ring-fenced.

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