Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I thank the Minister of State for being here to take this matter. She is a champion for mental health. I know she is very much aware of the question that I am raising this morning. In September, the Mental Health Commission in its report on child and adolescent mental health services from 2022 to 2023, while it identified many positives about mental health services, sounded quite a number of alarm bells. The particular issue I raise today is about access to CAMHS in north Wexford. The commission pointed out that as of March this year, there was a waiting list of 99 patients for CAMHS in north Wexford. That was up from 77 a year previously. When one compares that with south Wexford, and there should not be a waiting list-----

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There is not.

Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

-----there were ten patients, compared with 13. I quote from the report, which states, "The difference between the number of the waiting list for South Wexford (10) and North Wexford (99) and between Tipperary team 1 (68) and Tipperary Team 2 (8) shows an inequality of access to CAMHS services dependent on where the child lives (even within the same county) and requires urgent investigation and remedy." CHO 5, as the Minister of State knows, already has the second-lowest funding per capita across all CHO areas for CAMHS. This has been an ongoing problem. I do not accept that a child or young person should lose out on access to CAMHS because of their Eircode.

I know a new CAMHS team is being recruited for north Wexford. There is still no premises for that CAMHS team. I have spoken with CHO 5 and engaged with potential property owners to help them. There are many people in the Gorey and north Wexford area who would be more than willing to assist in finding a premises for this vital service. There is huge goodwill towards it. I cannot get answers from the HSE. The reason I am having to ask the Minister of State directly today is that I keep asking the HSE and I do not get any updates about what happened other than being told the matter is progressing and staff are being recruited. For those children and young people, it is critical that we see this service open as soon as possible. The Minister of State knows, having met most of them, that there are many people who, through voluntary and community work, are providing exceptional services for children and young people and indeed not-so-young people in the area of mental health supports. We need the professional support in the area to reduce the waiting lists and to provide the services.

The Minister of State knows about one of the big issues, which is that all of those working in the local area, including Ray Cullen and the team in Talk to Tom, Patrick Hipwell and George Graham who are involved in See Change, the Wexford Mental Health Association with Alice Doyle, with whom the Minister of State has engaged regularly, Joe and Catriona Dixon in Cycle Against Suicide, and Wexford Macra na Feirme, have identified the question of mental health among young people as one of their top priorities, as has Comhairle na nÓg in County Wexford. No matter how good all the voluntary work that is done in those areas is and no matter how strong a champion the Minister of State is, unless we have the professional support from CAMHS that has been promised being delivered on the ground and the centre opened in Gorey, we will continue to see this problem with waiting lists.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for his constant advocacy for mental health in his own area and in general too. It is not the first time he has raised these issues with me. As he knows, the development of all aspects of mental health, in line with our national policy, Sharing the Vision, remains a priority for me and for Government. This includes CAMHS, which receives around €137 million in dedicated funding annually. I was delighted yesterday to increase the budget for mental health to almost €1.3 billion. On the day of last year's budget, mental health spend for the following year was €1.221 billion. As of yesterday, it is €1.295 billion, which is a significant increase. About €108 million has been provided this year to community-based mental health organisations and NGOs, with a significant proportion dedicated to supporting youth mental health in the wider sense.

As the Senator is aware, a significant recent development is the new national office for youth mental health in the HSE. It is the first time we have ever had this. This will improve leadership, operational oversight, and management of all service delivery and improvement nationally. I wish Dr. Donan Kelly, who has taken up post, the very best. I will be working closely with him.We will have a new clinical lead, which we never had previously, for mental health, Dr. Amanda Burke from CAMHS from the Galway area, who is a fantastic person with many years of experience. I have to say I am really excited about all of these components coming together.

An ongoing focus for the HSE is to improve access to CAMHS and to reduce waiting lists. This was my focus in the budget yesterday and 68 more people will be recruited into CAMHS next year. This is really important because after the Mental Health Commission reports we know, for example, that there is a postcode lottery. I visited Arden House in Wexford last year and they work very well, have small waiting lists, and then you have the team - we see this across the whole country - in the north of the county with a higher waiting list. I also have to point out that during the Covid-19 pandemic, there were 33% more referrals into CAMHS and 21% more children were seen by the teams that were in place. Last year alone, 225,000 appointments were issued through CAMHS. Of our population of 1.2 million children or young people in the country, only 2% of them will ever need the support of CAMHS. We do have a lot of referrals into CAMHS, approximately 30%, that probably are not appropriate.

The CAMHS teams have worked closely with the Mental Health Commission over the past year to develop and implement improvement plans as needed following its interim and final reports. In addition, the HSE continues to progress the national audits. Regarding the specific point the Senator has raised, recruitment has been ongoing for a third CAMHS team in Wexford. The HSE's CHO 5 recently interviewed again for the position of consultant psychiatrist. It is a multidisciplinary team led by a consultant psychiatrist. It is understood that the post has been accepted and the candidate is currently in the clearing stage of the recruitment process. There have also been two clinical nurse specialists, one senior psychologist, and administration staff recruited to the team, which is very welcome. The CAMHS team will become operational when the CAMHS consultant psychiatrist commences in post but the timeline for this has yet to be confirmed. CHO 5 hopes to have the team in operation in early 2024. This will be subject to the context of agreeing the HSE service plan 2024 for mental health overall. I think it is an important team to get in place as soon as possible.

Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State and am glad that we are finally moving towards the appointment of that consultant. That is very welcome news today. I do not doubt the Minister of State's commitment to delivering on this service and appreciate that on the recruitment side, certain elements are outside the Minister of State's control. It is critical to get assurances now from CHO 5 that it will have the premises for this service secured in time for early 2024 and that the team are ready and able to work. I acknowledge the Minister of State is deeply committed to it but for a child, it should not depend on where they live as to when they have access to these services. Children or young people, no matter where they live in Ireland, should have equality of access to this vital service. Today, I appreciate the good news the Minister of State is bringing. However it is critical, and I do not want to see another Mental Health Commission report that highlights the problems in north Wexford and how the waiting lists there are among the longest anywhere in the country.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

A significant conversation needs to be had because we have 75 CAMHS teams but not all of them are fully staffed. Some of them have more capacity than others. I have spoken to many parents and they said to me that they do not mind driving for an extra 20 or 30 minutes if they know the child will receive the supports. There are a lot of conversations to be had. I had a series of round-table meetings just before the summer recess and brought all the stakeholders in to decide what we could do.

As for two of the things I will announce later today - I will give a preview of them - one is that I secured the money yesterday in the budget for a new youth mental health app. Nearly every young person has access to a phone and there will be a youth mental health app that will signpost the supports they need. Senator Malcolm Byrne spoke about the great work being done in the community in Wexford.

The second piece I will announce later today relates to a pilot of a no wrong door approach. We will pilot this in CHO 9 because it is in a position to put this in place. Basically, when a child attends a GP and a referral is made, there will be a no wrong door approach. Every child who is referred will be clinically assessed and it will be determined where that child should go. In some cases it may be Foróige, in some cases it may be a family resource centre, it might be Jigsaw, it might be Talk To Tom, it might be whatever services are available in the area. It might be CAMHS. It will be whatever is appropriate for the child. What we want to do going forward is to pilot this in order that parents know that when they bring their child to the GP, there will be a door and the door will open. I am really excited about launching that this afternoon. I secured the funding in the budget to do that. I thank the Senator and will certainly keep an eye on this for him.

Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State.

Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State and did not want to stop her with all of her previews. I congratulate her on her work on the budget for 2024. The House stands suspended until 12 noon.