Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Ahearn for raising this important matter today. On 9 September, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, launched the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, intellectual disability model of service. This marked a significant achievement for mental health services in line with the Government’s ongoing commitment to improve all aspects of mental health services and ensure they remain person-centred and accessible to all. As the Senator knows, the CAMHS intellectual disability model of service was developed to enhance supports for children and adolescents with intellectual disability by advancing specialist mental health services nationally and standardising the care provided to children, adolescents and their families.

Prior to the development of this model of service, there was no nationally agreed framework that would enable existing and future CAMHS intellectual disability teams to deliver services in a consistent and co-ordinated manner across the country. This model addresses that vacuum by providing national guidance on how to deliver integrated person-centred services consistently nationwide. It will increase the confidence and ability of service providers, both the HSE and independent agencies, to deliver successful and safe mental health intellectual disability services to a high-quality standard. It proposes effective partnerships between healthcare providers, children and adolescents with lived experience, their families and local communities.

The CAMHS intellectual disability model of service was informed by the broader policy context in which it was developed and Sharing the Vision, Sláintecare and the findings of the Maskey report were also significantly considered throughout. The process of developing teams in Ireland in line with Sharing the Vision recommendations has begun, with the development of several teams across the country. The Sharing the Vision implementation plan 2022-24, which was launched earlier this year, will ensure we are closely monitoring the development of further child and adult teams. The launch of the model of service coincides with the reconfiguration of disability services into the children disability network teams, which adopt the health and social care approach to the provision of relevant disability supports to children. The model of service provides clear guidance to ensure these network teams work closely and collaboratively with CAMHS intellectual disability teams to the benefit of those accessing the services.

North Tipperary lies within Mid West Community Healthcare in community healthcare organisation, CHO, 3 and south Tipperary lies within South East Community Healthcare in CHO 5.A full-time mental health intellectual disability child consultant has been recruited in the mid-west area. The consultant will work on a 0.8 whole-time equivalent basis. The HSE is looking at how best to deliver the child service to the full population of mid-west community healthcare. South-east community healthcare in CHO 5 recently interviewed for a CAMHS intellectual disability consultant for the region. A candidate has been offered the position and the HSE is working through the recruitment process for a start date to be finalised.

South-east community healthcare continues to liaise with national colleagues to secure funding for the multidisciplinary staff required to populate the adult and CAMHS intellectual disability teams. CHO 5 is endeavouring to populate this team at the earliest opportunity and it is a priority for the south-east community healthcare senior management team.