Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Daly, back to the House. He is a frequent visitor to this House. I am speaking on this matter on behalf of my colleague, Senator Keith Swanick.

Fianna Fáil welcomes the report on children's mental health services which was published last year following public consultation here in the Seanad. The report highlights the deficiencies in mental health services for children, and it is critical they are addressed. We have been aware of the deficiencies highlighted in the report for some time. Just over a week ago, my party colleague, Deputy James Browne, obtained information to the effect that there has been a 10% surge in the number of children and young people waiting longer than 12 months for an appointment with CAMHS. Twelve days is an excruciatingly long period for any parent to wait for their child to get an appointment with CAMHS, let alone 12 months.

It is perfectly clear for all to see that the CAMHS service is simply not able to meet current demands. There will be well over 3,000 children stuck on waiting lists before the end of this year if the current trend continues. This is quite frankly unacceptable. I regret to say that it shows that the Government's mental health strategy is floundering.

The submissions received by the committee reinforced previous findings that there was a chronic failure by the HSE to recruit psychiatric nurses and consultant child psychiatrists to operate the existing bed complement in Ireland, matched with a failure to alter pay agreement structures and working conditions to attract employment. I regret to say that it appears that there is no will on the part of the HSE to deal with this urgent crisis.

The committee made a number of key recommendations, which have been alluded to, which should be given appropriate consideration in the review of A Vision for Change. They include: a recommendation that waiting lists should be triaged in accordance with urgency and need; CAMHS must be extended nationwide to children up to the age of 18; admissions to adult psychiatric units should be prohibited; 180 child and adolescent psychiatrists should be in their posts by 2020; primary care should be urgently staffed with the level of psychologists recommended in A Vision for Change; and the two-tier remuneration system for nurses and consultants qualified since 2012 should be scrapped. The preceding are only a few of the recommendations in the report.

I commend our colleague, Senator Joan Freeman, who is working towards these recommendations and has already brought a Bill before this House to stop the admission of children to adult units. I also want to pay tribute to the Chairman of the Seanad Public Consultation Committee, Senator Paul Coghlan, and the rapporteur, Senator Freeman, and the other members of the committee who engaged in this process, along with all of those who gave evidence which helped in the compilation of this report, especially the parents who have been referred to by Senator Freeman.

I congratulate Senator Freeman on her very forthright contribution here this afternoon. She posed some very important questions to the Minister of State, and I have no doubt about his genuine desire to ensure the provision of these services. I ask him to reflect on some of the questions posed to him by Senator Freeman this afternoon. I commend this report to the House.