Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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59. To ask the Minister for Health the timeframe for bringing the child and adolescent mental health services in CHO6 to the level envisaged in A Vision for Change. [23577/18]

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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The Government is strongly committed to developing all aspects of mental health services, including the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) envisaged under A Vision for Change. This is being delivered by the HSE in the context of its agreed annual Service Plans. Significant progress has been made over recent years, underpinned by additional funding since 2012 to develop mental health services overall. Funding for mental health in 2018 amounts to €910m, including €35m approved in Budget 2018.

HSE CAMHS has standardised operational procedures which support timely access to services,.This is based on professional clinical assessment and prioritisation to address the mental health needs of all children presenting to this specialist service. Despite increasing demands overall on CAMHS, irrespective of the source of referrals, individual cases assessed as urgent receive priority.

Thereare currently 69CAMHS teams and three Paediatric Liaison Teams, of which seven CAMHS teams are in place in CHO6 .

Staffing levels in the CAMHS teams vary in CHO6 but are below levels recommended in A Vision for Change.CAMHS teams in this area are at 57% of A Vision for Changerecommendations. At present, there is a European shortage of appropriately trained Consultant Psychiatrists, and allied health professionals, for CAMHS. This, rather than funding availability at present, is the main difficulty facing the HSE, but steady progress has been made over recent years in filling the type of posts approved to modernise our mental health service. In the circumstances, it is not possible to give a timeframe for filling vacancies in line with A Vision for Change.

I, in conjunction with the Department of Health and the HSE, will continue to closely monitor the development of all aspects of CAMHS services nationally, including enhanced staffing levels for teams in each CHO area.