Mental Health Services: 10 Jun 2025: Written answers (KildareStreet.com)

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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It is a priority for me, and 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 various and obvious benefits of a Prevention and Early Intervention approach, including financial, have long been recognised by the mental health system and these are also clearly reflected in our on-going policy implementation and service developments. The concepts of Prevention and Early Intervention are a core Domain of our national mental health policy Sharing the Vision 2020-2030, and implementation of this is progressing very well. They are also kept to the fore in the context of the very significant contribution made each year to so many vulnerable young people by our 81 CAMHS community teams and our 4 CAMHS in-patient units nationally.

Significant investment has been made available by Government to the key mental health care programme over recent years and this will continue. 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.

Mental health difficulties are often described on a continuum of severity, ranging from mild to moderate to severe. To reflect this continuum there are tiers of mental health service provision. This ’stepped care approach’ as outlined in Sharing the Vision aims to enable an individual to avail of a range of supports and services as close to home as possible, at the level of complexity that corresponds best to their needs and circumstances, across a continuum of mental health services. This means accessing the mental health supports that they need, in the community in the first instance, at the level most appropriate to their needs – this could range from counselling and talk therapies through to support from their community mental health team, or access to more specialist services, up to and including inpatient and residential supports.

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 also 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 issues developing in the future. Rather than focusing on CAMHS only, the HSE is placing greater focus on a whole of government and whole of society approach to youth mental health improvement, including 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.

The specific information raised by the Deputy is not collated as a matter of routine by the Department of Health nor the HSE. However, our national policies recognise the rationale, and economic benefit, of investment in early intervention and prevention. I will, in conjunction with the HSE, continue to keep the improvement of all aspects of mental health care under close review for the remainder of this year.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

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.

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.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

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.

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

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.

The Deputy will be aware that I am progressing as a matter of priority the Mental Health Bill 2024, which will place greater legislative emphasis a more human rights based and person centered care approach to delivering mental health services in this country, including important aspects relating to those under age 18. In addition, the on-going implementation of Sharing the Vision takes a whole of population approach to mental health policy, from children and young people through to mental health services for older people. As part of the implementation structures for Sharing the Vision, specialist groups have been established to undertake a focused approach to relevant actions, including those relating to young people. This also involves, as appropriate, extensive collaboration between the Department of Health and the HSE with other relevant Government Departments and agencies to ensure that the best possible mental health supports are available to children and young people.

While improvements can always be made and we are ever conscious of the need to address this, I am satisfied that the current mental health care provision for children in Ireland is compliant with the State’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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.

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.

By way of background context, 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.

In terms of access to wider supports for children, while CAMHS is not suitable for children or adolescents where their difficulties are primarily related to learning problems, social problems, or behavioural problems, there are many other services available to assist these young people such as HSE Primary Care Services, HSE Disability Services, TUSLA, Jigsaw, and the National Educational Psychology Services (NEPS). Similarly, organisations that provide support/clinical interventions at primary care level for young people with mild to moderate mental health difficulties include Jigsaw (Online), My Mind, Turn2Me, and spunout.

The HSE website www.yourmentalhealth.ie also provides information on how to mind your mental health, support others, or to find a service in your area. On the site you can find a wide range of information provided by HSE-funded organisations, including self-help, counselling, helplines and online supports. You can also call the HSE Your Mental Health Information Line on freephone 1800 111 888 for information on mental health services in your area. The Information Line is open anytime, day or night. Additionally, 'Text About It' by spunout provides immediate support for people going through mental health difficulties - visit spunout.ie/text to begin a conversation.

Mental health difficulties are often described on a continuum of severity, ranging from mild to moderate to severe. To reflect this continuum there are tiers of mental health service provision. This ’stepped care approach’ as outlined in our national mental health policy Sharing the Vision aims to enable an individual to avail of a range of supports and services as close to home as possible, at the level of complexity that corresponds best to their needs and circumstances, across a continuum of mental health services. This means accessing the mental health supports that they need, in the community in the first instance, at the level most appropriate to their needs – this could range from counselling and talk therapies through to support from their community mental health team, or access to more specialist services, up to and including inpatient and residential supports.

All aspects of mental health care, including that relating to youth mental health, are monitored on a regular basis by the Department of Health and the HSE, in line with on-going policy implementation and the HSE Service Plan 2025.

I will continue to work closely with the HSE to ensure that all aspects of youth mental health care are improved over this year and beyond.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

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.

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.

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 and timely delivery of services.

The Deputy will appreciate that the provision of health and personal social care services, including entitlement as legislated for, in Ireland is governed by a wide range of Health legislation, and reflected as appropriate in various policies and services. The revision of the Mental Health Act 2001 and the development of a new Mental Health Bill is a longstanding priority of mine and features in the current Programme for Government. It is also a major component of Recommendation 92 of our national mental health policy, Sharing the Vision, and a priority project under Sláintecare.

The regulation of mental health services, adult and children, inpatient and community, is a core policy contained within the Bill. In addition, the Bill provides for an overhauled approach to mental health legislation, providing a more person-centric, human rights-based approach. A new Part of the Bill is also dedicated to the care and treatment of children and young people, which includes the presumption of capacity for young people aged 16 and 17 years to consent to or refuse admission and treatment.

In light of the above, it is not planned to progress the type of proposal raised by the Deputy.

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

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.

Written answers

Tuesday, 10 June 2025

What are written answers?

Department of Health

Mental Health Services

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