Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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638. To ask the Minister for Health if she will introduce a national triage timeframe target for CAMHS referrals, such as a maximum of 12 weeks from referral to assessment. [26897/25]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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It is a priority for me, and indeed for Government, 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.

There continues to be a high demand for CAMHS. In CAMHS there are two types of referral; an urgent referral and a routine referral. Every effort is made to prioritise urgent referrals so that young people with high risk presentations are seen as soon as possible and this is often within 24 to 48 hours. Severity of presenting symptoms affects waiting times - where waiting times for those with high risk presentations are shorter. This may impact on wait times for cases that are considered, by a clinician, to be less severe.

Waiting lists nationally are reviewed and validated on a regular basis to assess the risk to the young person. Cases which are not considered, by a clinician, to be urgent, are seen as soon as possible within the context of the overall number of referrals accepted by the team, the nature and urgency of referrals accepted, the caseload carried by the team and the resources available to the team at any point in time.

CAMHS nationally is initiating a targeted campaign to reduce waiting lists across all of its CAMHS teams following receipt of waiting list initiative funding from the National Child and Youth Mental Health Office for 2025. Detailed data in respect of CAMHS waiting lists is published regularly on the HSE webiste.

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.

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.

I will, in conjunction with the HSE, continue to keep this matter under close review for the remainder of this year.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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639. To ask the Minister for Health if her Department has examined the potential fiscal savings from eliminating CAMHS waiting lists through investment in early intervention services. [26898/25]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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It is a priority for me, and indeed for Government, 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.

The Department of Health and the HSE are always conscious of the need to achieve the best possible service delivery, and financial outcomes, for the significant investment across the Mental Health care programme. 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.

Mental Health Promotion, Prevention and Early Intervention is a key principle underpinning the work in delivering on the commitments in this action plan. The plan strives to ensure that Mental wellbeing and literacy for children, parents and communities will be promoted from birth and that services will be available as soon as they are needed. This will mean children and young people, who need to, can avail of early needs assessments to help prevent more complex mental health difficulties developing in the future.

Rather than focusing on CAMHS only, the HSE is now prioritising a whole of government and whole of society approach to their youth mental health improvement programme with an increased emphasis on early intervention approaches to youth mental health services.

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.