Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
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I am pleased the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, is present to discuss this issue, on which I have spoken previously. I felt compelled to raise this matter because of the latest report issued by the Health Service Executive which makes very worrying reading. The report shows that almost 250 people aged under 18 years were waiting more than 12 months for mental health services at the end of last year. Demand for services have also increased with referrals to child and adolescent mental health services more than 10% higher in 2011 than in the same period a year earlier.

Under the welcome targets introduced for the child and adolescent mental health teams, 70% of people referred to the service are to be seen within three months. Unfortunately, however, this target is not being met and while the figures are improving, current outcomes are not good enough. A cohort of young people aged between 16 and 18 years fall between two stools because they do not come within the remit of child and adolescent services and are sometimes misplaced in adult services. In some cases, children are detained in adult psychiatric hospitals. I hope this practice will be brought to a definitive end over the lifetime of the Government.

I do not need to tell the Minister of State that a year is a long time in a child's life. Children are being left to cope with difficulties that can hold back their normal development and impact significantly on their education, childhood and future well-being. If they do not receive the services they badly need during this key window in a time of need, it can have serious repercussions for their future development.

In 2011, Barnardos prepared a children's budget in which it noted that community mental health services were slow to recruit staff. I ask the Minister of State to explain the reason for this. In 2010, the child and adolescent mental health service teams had only 41% of the recommended staffing complement. It is shocking that they have less than half the recommended staff level. As of November 2011, some 61 teams were in place nationwide and the resources available for the services were inadequate. The lack of inter-agency co-operation between the child welfare services and juvenile justice system means that highly vulnerable young people continue to slip through the cracks and many opportunities for intervention are missed. As the Minister of State is aware, the earlier the intervention takes place, the better the outcome and the better the life chances for the child in question.

For children living in poverty, access to health care services is hindered by lengthy delays and insufficient resources. Many children wait up to one year for crucial services such as speech and language therapy and developmental checks. I am saddened that child and adolescent mental health services have joined this list. My former colleagues in Barnardos have highlighted circumstances in which children presenting with suicidal thoughts were placed on waiting lists for an appointment with a member of the local mental health team for up to two years. Two days or two weeks can be an eternity for someone in such circumstances, especially a child or young person. A significant improvement is required in this area. This is especially true when one considers that the suicide rate in Ireland for those aged between 15 and 24 years is the fourth highest in Europe. We must all be cognisant of this.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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I recently met Dr. Brendan Doody, the director of child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. I was highly impressed by Dr. Doody and do not have any reason to doubt the information he provides. He gathers information on mental health that is not gathered by anyone else. Despite the fact that our child and adolescent mental health service is new, he has gathered information on the service which we do not have for the adult mental health services that have been in place since God was a boy. He receives this information every month. If only we had similar information in areas such as disability, Travellers and so forth as we would have an incredible service and would know where to direct funding. This has been a difficulty in the delivery of services in the past.

I thank Deputy Conway for raising this issue in which she has shown a strong interest. Child and adolescent mental health services need focus. Against a backdrop of reducing resources and increased demand for services, reflected in an increase in child and adolescent psychiatric referrals of almost 10%, the Health Service Executive succeeded in reducing the child and adolescent waiting list by more than 21% in 2011. This clearly highlights the fact that in mental health we are facing the challenges presented and we can and will continue to make improvements and do more with less.

Key to the development of child and adolescent mental health services is the establishment of multidisciplinary teams, of which 61 are currently in place. In that regard, I was pleased to announce a special allocation of €35 million for mental health as part of budget 2012 in line with the programme for Government commitments. Funding from this special allocation will be used primarily to strengthen community mental health teams in both adult and children's mental health services by ensuring, at a minimum, that at least one of each mental health professional discipline is represented on every team. Approximately 400 additional staff will be recruited to support these initiatives.

The Deputy drew attention to the 241 children who have been waiting for more than 12 months for an appointment at the end of 2011. I note this is a reduction of almost 29% on the number waiting at the end of 2010. I assure the House that all referrals received by the child and adolescent mental health service are screened and those deemed urgent are seen as a priority, while those deemed to be routine are placed on a waiting list. I am anxious that children are seen as quickly as possible. For this reason, the national service plan 2012 includes targets that 70% of all new and re-referred cases will be offered a first appointment and seen within three months and no child will wait longer than 12 months for an appointment. I am confident that with the additional resources provided to the child and adolescent service from the special allocation of €35 million, these targets can be achieved.

As Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, I am committed to ensuring the implementation of A Vision for Change. In this context, I am particularly keen to advance service provision for young people. The data shows the HSE made considerable progress in the delivery of child and adolescent mental health services in 2011. I will do all I can to ensure this momentum is maintained in the current year.

Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for her response. We need to see joined up thinking in trying to tackle this problem, because it is not something that rests solely at her door. We need to see greater integration of services between the Department of Health, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Department of Education and Skills, in order to meet the psychological and emotional needs of our children. This is particularly the case for the most vulnerable group in the 16 to 18 year old bracket.

I welcome the advances that have been made in tackling the waiting times for young people with mental health difficulties. I congratulate the Minister of State, in these very harsh economic times, in being able to secure €35 million for the progression and the further investment in what is a vital component of our health system, namely, the mental health services. I thank her for her response and I look forward to working with her to advance further the needs of our most vulnerable people.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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One of the most startling things we have managed to do is to ring fence that money. However, the money in itself would have been useless if we did not manage to get the 414 posts as well. That is what is going to be important.

We are about to reach our target this year in respect of the increase in bed capacity for child and adolescent services, with the opening of eight new beds in Cork, Galway and Dublin, and the 40% decrease in admissions of children to the adult psychiatric services. The compound distress of having one's child admitted to an adult psychiatric unit must be unbearable.

Every single multidisciplinary team will now have one person from each profession. That will be crucially important because until now, I kept hearing that we had 126 multidisciplinary teams or 61 multidisciplinary teams in respect of child and adolescent services, but when we dug deep, we found that they might consist of a psychiatrist and a psychiatric nurse. Having one of each profession in that multidisciplinary team will have the type of effect that we all want. I thank the Deputy for raising this.