Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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20. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 727 of 26 May 2015, (details supplied), his views that the deployment of one child psychologist at the mid-Kildare Linn Dara child and adolescent mental health service team is satisfactory in view of the very significant delays that parents are experiencing accessing this essential service for their children; if he will provide, in tabular form, a breakdown of the number of similar child psychologist posts per county, indicating the address of the unit at which they are based in each case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27649/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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A Vision for Change recommends the provision of 1 Community based Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) Team per 50,000 of the population. At present, Linn Dara Child and Adolescent Mental Health services provide specialist mental health services, including CAMHS, in Co. Kildare for an overall population of approximately 210,000.

There are currently 3 multi-disciplinary community CAMHS teams for Kildare: the North Kildare CAMHS Team based in Celbridge; the South Kildare CAMHS Team based in Athy; the Mid-Kildare CAMHS Team based in Naas.

Each of the 3 Kildare teams has a clinical psychologist as a member of the multi-disciplinary team, under the direction of a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. The introduction of a fourth CAMHS team is planned in the last quarter of this year, to serve the catchment population of Co. Kildare and West Wicklow. This team will also have a CAMHS psychologist post as part of its multi-disciplinary approach. The introduction of the fourth team will make a significant improvement to CAMHS provision overall in Kildare, and will meet the requirements of A Vision for Change.

At the end of May last, the Mid-Kildare CAMHS Waiting List had a total of 44 cases.

This has reduced from a waiting list of 67 for the previous month.

A targeted Waiting List initiative was recently implemented to reduce waiting times. In the first month of the programme, the waiting list for children who were waiting more than 12 months reduced from 34 to 11. The continuation of this initiative, in combination with implementation of the new CAMHS Standard Operating Procedures launched in June will ensure that children are referred to the service most appropriate to their need. It is expected that this trend will continue, in line with HSE policy to improve waiting list targets.

In relation to the information sought by the Deputy in tabular form, my Department does not collect this information as a matter of routine. I have therefore asked the HSE to write to the Deputy with the information sought as soon as possible.