Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. This issue relates to the Cherry Orchard campus in Dublin 10. My last Commencement matter on it was in July and dealt with by the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly. It was tabled in response to desperation and queries from patients - children - their families, the staff and others at the coalface with experience of how day services were being shut down. On 11 June the consultant was told by the director of services of concerns about staffing in child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, to cater for the Linn Dara day programme. The problem arose because a supporting CAMHS service in Clondalkin was in dire straits. The consultant was willing to support the service in Clondalkin and, with staff, formulated a solution to help with capacity in Clondalkin. Staff travelled to Clondalkin in the morning and returned to Linn Dara in the afternoon to carry out assessments, attend appointments and provide therapies included in the diary to provide long-awaited services for adolescents and children. Nothing else happened between 11 and 27 June.

On 27 June an email was circulated by senior management advising of the closure of the day hospital programme on 6 July. The senior manager went on to say families should not be informed directly about the closure and that appointments should continue to be made for children who had been on the waiting lists for a long time. The order not to inform families was the entire concern of management at the time. It refused to communicate directly with families and stated it would not issue letters to cancel appointments because it did not want them to end up on the Joe Duffy radiol show. The closure was kept quiet and low key. I urged the Committee on the Future of Mental Health Care to visit the campus in July prior to the recess and the House recommencing last week, but the issue remains unresolved.

As the Minister of State is aware, I spent more than 30 years as a psychiatric nurse. From a service provision perspective, I know only too well the deficits and the impact on children and families. I want to talk to the Minister. I spoke to one of the mothers, whose story exemplifies the failings of CAMHS.Her child has been on the waiting list since May. He was waiting for a particular psychologist, to whom he was allocated, but the psychologist has since moved out of the area, leaving the Cherry Orchard campus one psychologist post short. I am sure the Minister of State is aware and I am sure she also gets this all the time. I have been inundated with requests for help from parents of young children in dire need of the mental health services. This child's waiting list has been frozen and the parents were told that, realistically, it would be at least another six months before a replacement psychologist was hired. This child is just one of many children who are in distress. It is unacceptable. The child is ten years old, is isolated and has major socialisation issues. He is boiling with frustration that is destructively displayed at home. I am aware of parents who care for and are concerned about their children and family members and are trying to keep them safe being advised to call the Garda to deal with children as young as five. Some have done so. I ask the Minister of State to outline how the position at Cherry Orchard campus will be improved. Will she provide concrete, tangible plans for day services and fast-tracking recruitment to the vacant psychology post?