Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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628. To ask the Minister for Health if her Department has undertaken any assessment of the long-term developmental, educational, and economic impacts of prolonged delays in accessing CAMHS. [26872/25]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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My priority, and that of Government, is to ensure that children who need services can access them and access them on time. This is in line with our national mental health policy Sharing the Vision, our suicide reduction strategy Connecting for Life, and the HSE Annual Service Plan 2025.

Year-on-year funding for mental health services increased from €1.3 billion announced in Budget 2024 to almost €1.5 billion in 2025. This represents a 10.7% annual increase. CAMHS nationally receives approximately €167 million annually, with a further €110 million provided to NGOs, many of which focus on youth mental health. Under Budget 2025, an additional €2.9 million will support CAMHS to increase core staffing, develop a new CAMHS Emergency Liaison Service and expand CAMHS Hubs to improve crisis cover for services.

CAMHS is a secondary care specialist service for those aged up to 18 years, who have a moderate to severe mental health difficulty. Access to CAMHS is on the basis of prioritised clinical assessment, in line with the CAMHS Operational Guidelines which are available on the HSE website. All referrals to CAMHS are assessed by a multidisciplinary team. Approximately 2% of the population require support from this specialist service with over 90% of mental health needs requiring treatment in a primary care setting.

I established the National Office for Child and Youth Mental Health in the HSE to improve leadership and all aspects of care across youth mental health. The Office published its new Youth Mental Health Action Plan in February last. This ambitious plan for comprehensive reform across all youth mental health services, including the specialist CAMHS service, will deliver services which are safer, effective, easier to access and which offers appropriate support at all levels when needed.

The three-year Plan sets out a clear roadmap for the Department and HSE to ensure children and families have equitable and timely access to high-quality mental health care, including better links with Primary Care and Disability Services, and greater use of e-mental health responses. My aim is that services will be better connected and easier to navigate, with increased focus on the rights of young people and their families.

The development of a Single Point of Access for all child and youth mental health referrals in partnership with disabilities, primary care, and voluntary and statutory agencies is a key priority within the new Action Plan. This action will ensure children and young people will have improved access to timely, integrated and appropriate mental health services through streamlined referrals and simplified care pathways which will reduce waiting lists.

Engagement with all stakeholders working in and engaged with mental health services to understand their realities, concerns and future visions and hopes has, and will continue to be, a key influencer of the recommendations contained within the new HSE Child and Youth Mental Health Action Plan. This also has been reflected in the Whole of Government approach being undertaken through implementation of Sharing the Vision which involves, as appropriate, close collaboration with other relevant Departments and agencies. Extensive research and evaluation has gone into the development of our various policies and services for mental health and I remain firmly committed to this objective, as appropriate, in the future.

I recently commenced a series of visits to all HSE Regional Health Areas to meet with the Regional Executive Officers and their staff to focus on improvements to all aspects of Youth Mental Health care, to identify areas where increased activity is needed, and also areas of innovative and positive service delivery. This includes improving access and reducing CAMHS waiting lists particularly for those waiting over 12 months. I have stressed also, the importance of filling all approved posts for each CAMHS team to ensure the effective delivery of services.

In the context of the above, the Department of Health has not undertaken the type of proposal raised by the Deputy, nor are there any plans to do so in the foreseeable future.