Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)

I also have that in a reply to a parliamentary question that it does not keep a record of the children it does not see. To get a holistic and overarching view, those critical pieces of information and data must be collated. The tracking of the child's needs from when they present to when they accept or receive an offer of services is vital. What we will find is children who have been refused an appointment with CAMHS two or three times and who may end up waiting five or six years for any level of services. This is not good enough for anybody.

Any child who could be waiting for that extended period puts these figures of 763 kids waiting for more than a year in a ha'penny place. What about their families, the ones who are their primary carers and their primary support, the parents who have become the psychologist, the OT and everything overnight because the services within the State system simply are not there to support them?

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