April 26, 2018
Today in the Dáil I raised during Leaders Questions the serious issue of our children and young people being failed by our mental health system.
Children and their parents face immense challenges to get an adequate, or indeed any, service. Due to this, many children carry those difficulties into their adult lives.
The position would be much worse were it not for the tremendous work done by community and voluntary organisations across the country. There are many such organisations in my own area, including the River Suir Suicide Patrol, Taxi Watch and C-SAW, the community suicide awareness workers. These all operate on a voluntary, unpaid basis and do tremendous work. There is huge frustration among these organisations, which feel alone in dealing with issues that should be properly dealt with by the public mental health service. These organisations need to be acknowledged, supported and resourced, along with financial support.
We are failing to provide for our young people. We need to do so urgently, it must become a Government priority. We cannot, should not, and hopefully, will not kick the can further down the road in this. They need to be implemented urgently not in the next budget but now, because this is something that is affecting young people on a minute by minute basis.
Leaders Questions 26 April 2018
Deputy Seamus Healy: Children and young people are being failed by our mental health system. For the past three months since February, young people experiencing mental health difficulties have been admitted to the paediatric ward in South Tipperary General Hospital. Today, there are three young people on the ward. There have been as many as five and their lengths of stay have been as long as eight weeks. The reason for this, as we all know, is that there are simply not enough inpatient beds for young people with mental health difficulties.
Admissions to the paediatric ward in South Tipperary General Hospital are totally inappropriate. Nursing staff do their best. They are kind, compassionate and caring but they are not trained to provide mental health care. Parents, usually mothers, must stay on the ward overnight to give support to their children. Of course, there are knock-on effects in delayed admissions for other patients. Every day, young people with mental health difficulties do not receive the age-appropriate timely services and supports they need. This causes psychological and social damage to these young people. It has a detrimental effect, not just on themselves, but also on their parents, their siblings, their schools and their communities. Of course, it reinforces the whole stigma regarding those with mental health difficulties. Children and their parents face immense challenges to get an adequate, or indeed any, service. Due to this, many children carry those difficulties into their adult lives.
We all know what needs to be done. We have had report after report. The problem is we have had no action on those reports or their recommendations. I remind the Tánaiste that to tackle this significant issue, we need additional inpatient beds for children and young people with mental health difficulties and 24-7 crisis intervention teams providing rapid assessment for those children and young people. We need a comprehensive primary care counselling service and a fully staffed existing child and adolescent mental health teams. We also need to resource and support, including financially, community and voluntary organisations working in these areas. We need a designated leader – a tsar-type arrangement – whose sole duty and responsibility will be to drive the implementation of these measures to ensure our young people get the services they deserve and need urgently. It should be like how cancer care services developed recently.
When will we see these measures being implemented by the Government?
The Tánaiste: I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, to revert to the Deputy with more details on South Tipperary General Hospital after Leaders’ Questions. He is aware of some of the cases to which the Deputy referred and he has spoken to some of the parents involved.
Staffing and necessary skills shortages need to be addressed in the context of extra beds. Up to €55 million of additional funding has been committed for next year to develop new services, which will involve ten new beds in the Central Mental Hospital and 20 new child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, beds coming to the new children’s hospital. There is a recognition that there is a deficit. We are providing significant resources to address that.
On the broader mental health service issues, funding this year is almost €1 billion at €910 million. That is an increase of €200 million since 2012. In excess of 2,000 new posts have been approved since 2012, of which over 1,300, 66%, have been recruited with recruitment ongoing for the remainder. The appointment of 114 assistant psychologists and 20 staff grade psychologists for primary care child psychology services is ongoing. A series of actions are happening which are linked to reports which have been done. This represents incremental improvement all the time.
However, I am aware there are certain pressure points in different parts of the country. This is a particularly sensitive area in child and adolescent mental health services. We have seen significant increases in funding and funding commitments with the staff and beds that need to go with that. The challenge is ongoing. I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, to come back to the Deputy with a more detailed answer on services in Tipperary.
Deputy Seamus Healy: While I thank the Tánaiste for the reply, we cannot continue to kick this can down the road. These issues must be dealt with urgently. The Tánaiste referred to recruitment. There are currently 500 psychiatric nurse vacancies in this country. The position would be much worse were it not for the tremendous work done by community and voluntary organisations across the country. There are many such organisations in my own area, including the River Suir Suicide Patrol, Taxi Watch and C-SAW, the community suicide awareness workers. These all operate on a voluntary, unpaid basis and do tremendous work. There is huge frustration among these organisations, which feel alone in dealing with issues that should be properly dealt with by the public mental health service. These organisations need to be acknowledged, supported and resourced, along with financial support.
We are failing to provide for our young people. We need to do so urgently, it must become a Government priority. We cannot, should not, and hopefully, will not kick the can further down the road in this. They need to be implemented urgently not in the next budget but now, because this is something that is affecting young people on a minute by minute basis.
The Tánaiste: I reaffirm to the Deputy that no one is kicking the can down the road on anything here. It is a programme of action that is already under way. The construction of a national forensic mental health complex at Portrane is progressing well and should be completed by 2020. There are other improvements such as in counselling services, including new Jigsaw sites in Cork, Dublin and Limerick, to bring a total of 13 sites nationally, and there is continued development of the community mental health teams and improved 24-7 response and liaison services are improving the contact within communities. An eating disorder care programme was launched in January 2018, which is patient-centred in care and recovery. In line with the provisions of A Vision for Change, the HSE has prioritised mental health needs for those under 18 years. We are focusing on reducing CAMHS waiting lists and improving mental health teams. There are currently 69 CAMHS teams nationally. The Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, is working with the HSE and officials to establish a national telephone and text line for mental health services, and the list goes on. There are a lot of things happening in this area but there is a lot more to be done, and we recognise that.
Reply
April 16, 2018
After 24 years the Department of Education has approved the tendering process for Gaelscoil Chluain Meala with a target date for the commencement of construction of the second quarter of 2019.
Tenders will issue in the next few weeks for the completion of a panel of suitably qualified builders to carry out the work.
On the completion of this list, tender documents for the construction of the school will issue to the qualified contractors.
Assessment of tenders will follow with a target date for commencement of construction at the second quarter of 2019.
The construction work involves, what is effectively a new school at the rear, in the Old County Council Machinery yard and the refurbishment of the existing building.
The school which opened its doors in September 1994 has gone from strength to strength buts its accommodation is substandard, overcrowded and not fit for purpose.
This is a very welcome development and great credit is due to the whole school community at Gaelscoil Chluain Meala, parents, pupils, teachers and Board of Management. Mar a deireann an seanfhocal, “Ní neart go cur le chéile.”
Seamus Healy TD
15 th April 2018
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