Written answers

Tuesday, 19 November 2019

Department of Health

Medical Conditions

Photo of Pearse DohertyPearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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363. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 284 of 28 May 2019, the version of the WHO international classification of diseases used by the HSE with respect to the disputed condition referred to; if a cross-departmental committee, including the relevant Departments, the HSE and other agencies, will be established to monitor potential developments on the classification and status of the condition and the treatment options for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47275/19]

Photo of Jim DalyJim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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In May this year, the World Health Organisation adopted the eleventh revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11), which is to come into effect on 1 January 2022.

Parental alienation has been included as a new classification in ICD-11. However, it is not currently recognised by the American Academy of Psychiatry, which is a leader in the field of psychiatry. The issues involved will require further clinical consideration by the HSE.

My department has no plans to establish a cross-departmental committee to monitor potential developments on the classification and status of the condition.

Comments

Paul Anderson
Posted on 27 Nov 2019 10:54 pm (Report this comment)

This Minister & the HSE are INCOMPETENT !!!

In plain terms everyone knows of a situation where a child's mind has been poisoned by a parent against the other parent?

Also recently in the joint committee on justice_and equality report 2019-10-24 Parental Alienation was commented upon in three occasions and even recommended upon

"Dr O’Shea highlighted
that in Canada, judges are obliged to have continuous professional training on an
annual basis with regard to hearing the voice of the child and how to determine if
there is a situation of estrangement, parental alienation or parental coaching. "

"Parental alienation is now recognised as serious problem by a number of commentators.
In a Dail debate Feb. 25, 2015, two deputies referred in graphic terms to parental alienation. I
quote from one:
There is an enormous problem, where people are estranged, of the primary custodial parent,
who most often is the mother, deliberately obstructing fathers from accessing children. They
are using children as pawns, going to war with fathers, causing some fathers to have nervous
breakdowns, and destroying relationships deliberately between children and fathers."

and Recommended on
36. The Committee recommends that consideration be given as to whether laws should be amended to take into account situations where one parent is wrongfully influencing their child or children against the other parent,thereby creating unfair and unwarranted alienation that can be destructive and life lasting.

See https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/committee/dail/32/j...


Is Parental Alienation recognised?
The research and literature of Bernet & Baker (2013) and Lorandos et al (2013) along with the research of Bernet et al (2010) and Wallerstein & Kelly (1996) attest to the validity and reliability of the parental alienation construct.
Furthermore, Baker et al (2012) have developed a four factor model for determining the presence or absence of parental alienation.
Additionally, the DSM-V task force committee clearly articulated a view that parental alienation is a relational phenomenon rather than one where a pathology can be said to be residing within any one individual within the family therefore, they have included labels such as “child affected by parental relationship distress”, “problems relating to family upbringing” or “disruption of family by separation or divorce” and “child psychological abuse”.
More recently (autumn, 2018), the Child and Family Court Advisory Service in the U.K (CAFCAS) have published high conflict pathways for their teams to identify and intervene in cases where parental alienation is considered to be a factor.
In July 2018, the ICD-11 published by the World Health Organisation included parental alienation in their latest edition.
Currently, the American Psychology Association is reviewing its position on parental alienation.
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (1997) published practice parameters for its members working with parental alienation.
It is illegal to alienate a child from a parent in Romania and Mexico.
Albert Einstein was probably the first to use the term alienation in 1914 when he wrote about his relationship with his children after separating from his first wife.
Charles Dickens (1850) is said to have alienated his children from his wife.
The Count of Westmeath (1847) is said to have alienated his children from their mother the Countess of Westmeath.

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