Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I seek a debate on child and adolescent mental health services. Anyone who reads any of the newspapers today will note the recent report from the independent review panel, chaired by Dr. Helen Buckley. It reviews any deaths or serious incidents of children in the care of the State or known by the care system. The study shows clearly that 26 young people known to social services died last year. The chair of the review group, Dr. Helen Buckley, said it found that alcohol, drug abuse and domestic violence were issues in half of the cases. Other serious problems were parents suffering from mental health or intellectual disability. However, she said a strong theme was the difficulty of accessing appropriate psychological and mental health services for suicidal young people. There were long waiting lists, up to two years for psychological services, and the treatments were time-limited. Three out of four teenage girls who died by suicide were known to child protection services and had been on lengthy waiting lists for psychological services. One of the girls could not access a mental health service in the days before her death.

When debating the Child and Family Agency Bill I argued that the child and adolescent mental health services needed to moved into the new Child and Family Agency. Certainly what I am reading in the reports substantiates that view. While there are issues around the number of social workers allocated to each case, in many cases social workers could not access the services needed for these children. A need was identified and the services could not be accessed. I have raised the issue repeatedly. A few months ago when the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, was in the House, I raised the issue because I believe it is an issue throughout the country. She stated on the record that she questioned her decision regarding the child and adolescent mental health services not moving to the Child and Family Agency. The difficulty is that we are witnessing the direct effect on lives which makes it very difficult for me. I ask the Leader for a debate on child and adolescent mental health services and how such services can be accessed from a local level by those in the social services. All too often social workers are told these people are now in their care and that the social services will look after the community care. I question whether they are looking after community care because year on year they have been allocated extra money, some of which is left over at the end of the year, and they have not employed the staff they are supposed to employ. I do not know what we need to do but, as Senators, we need to give this area a focus. We cannot fail the children of Ireland in this way.