Ombudsman for Children Niall Muldoon has said there needs to be a standardisation of the national CAMHS system to ensure that every child in the country gets the same standard of care.
A report by the Mental Health Commission has highlighted significant deficits in CAMHS.
The Health Service Executive has said that it received a draft of the MHC review late last year and has taken necessary actions to address issues raised in relation to individual service users.
That report highlights a dysfunctional system of long waiting lists, clinical governance and staffing problems, children who have got "lost" in the system, a lack of capacity to provide appropriate therapeutic interventions and a lack of emergency CAMHS out-of-hours services.
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime programme, Dr Muldoon said "it's a really scary vista at the moment", adding that one of the concerns about CAMHS is that it is individually led with no consistency across the teams.
He said: "The concept of being lost when you go in at such a vulnerable age is horrific."
He explained that by "lost" he meant there had been no follow up for some children for up to two years when they should have been monitored.
The Ombudsman said there has been no consistency in care saying it is important "to make sure no child is being discriminated against based on their address".
He said the lack of consistency is very dangerous.
He said there needs to be standardisation across the country and the child must go to the centre of decision-making.
Read the full report here
HSE to review child care of North Kerry CAMHS service
'I lost out on a good eight years of my life'
No child should be lost in the system, says Tánaiste
Meanwhile, the Tánaiste said the findings of the CAMHS report are "unacceptable".
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Micheál Martin said: "I think it's unacceptable, very, very concerning."
He said there was an ongoing review of what had happened, but the Health Service Executive had engaged with every child that was not catered for adequately by the CAMHS service.
"We have to look at governance issues in respect of the mental health services. A lot of investment has gone in over the last decade or so, there's been significant investment in child and adolescent centres.
"The numbers going forward for treatment have increased very significantly, the referrals have increased very significantly. But still, no child should be lost in the system.
"I know the minister [for health] is very focused on that and I think the reviews have highlighted that now."
Mr Martin said there were historical issues around mental health in particular areas. In specialist areas there had been progress, but there had to be a stronger focus on primary and community-based healthcare, he said.
"Historically, Irish mental health care was too institutionalised and there was a certain tardiness in moving towards more primary and community care based models, too much emphasis on acute care.
"We've made a lot of progress in 20 years, compared to where we were as a country in respect of mental health, but clearly [it's] not good enough in respect of the report that has just been published."
HSE invited to appear before Oireachtas committee
The Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Mental Health has invited the HSE to appear before it, to discuss deficits in the CAMHS service.
Sinn Féin's health spokesperson Mark Ward said that he would like to see that meeting take place as soon as possible.
Deputy Ward has also called on the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly and Minister of State for Mental Health, Mary Butler, to appear before the Dáil this week to answer questions on the Mental Health Commission's Interim Report into CAMHS.
Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall said the HSE needs "root and branch reform" and the report shows "a litany of appalling failings" by CAMHS.
"These shortcomings in the service have been identified for a number of years and yet the HSE seems incapable of responding to those problems and putting in place a properly functional system," she said.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Deputy Shortall said authority and responsibility for the provision of services is not devolved to the regions and this "disempowers the managers down the line in the region", which she said is one key structural issue that needs to be addressed.
HSE Chief Operations Officer Damien McCallion said the executive has accepted the findings of the report.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said the HSE worked with the commission as it went through the investigation process and on some cases the issues were addressed immediately.
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Mr McCallion said staffing is a significant issue in CAMHS teams as highlighted by the report, both in terms of consultants, but also in all of the other therapies that are an essential part of the service and there were varying wait times for follow-up appointments, monitoring or prescriptions.
"There's nearly 800 people now in the CAMHS team, and over recent years that's doubled by nearly an additional 350 staff, but we recognise that's not sufficient. The national team coverage ... is around 64% but there are variations ... within that."
Mr McCallion said the HSE is "continuing to invest both in nursing, medical and also in psychology and other therapies in terms of both training and recruitment".
He said that "the waiting list has grown", but "appointments being offered by the teams, notwithstanding resource challenges, have also grown".
"The service is trying to catch up with that increased demand. But there is a gap there," he added.
He said that the commission has also highlighted other areas of concern, such as the IT systems and there is a project under way to put in a new national care record system that would support mental health and other services.
Mr McCallion said the HSE is also looking at interim solutions that might assist the teams because their staff are working hard to try to support children and families within their respective areas, and many of them are under resourced in terms of the total staff that they have in their teams.
"So, there's a range of actions planned. Perhaps one of the most important pieces of learning from the Maskey Report, which was done in Kerry, but also had recommendations that apply nationally to all our CHOs and there is a range of improvement projects under way."
He said that shortly there will be an advertisement for the role of national clinical lead and an operational lead "that will help drive the changes that are clearly needed and support our teams on the ground to try and improve the service for children and families".
In a statement, HSE National Clinical Director Integrated Care Dr Siobhán Ní Bhríain said the HSE is putting the necessary plans in place to carry out the review into open cases as recommended in the report.
She said the HSE will arrange "further clinical follow-up for any child where that may be required from this review and will make direct contact with parents or guardians as necessary".
Findings 'very, very concerning'
Minister of State for Mental Health Mary Butler said that when the full findings are published that stakeholders "will have to sit down and decide what's the best way forward and make sure that children receive the correct supports they need when they're in the care of child and adolescent mental health services".
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, she said the findings were "very, very concerning", but "in fairness to the report, it did say that CAMHS staff work extremely hard to try to provide a good CAMHS service".
Róisín Clarke, Interim CEO, Mental Health Reform, said the report is a "damning indictment of the deepening crisis in our mental health services".
"Persistent failures of clinical oversight are putting children's safety at risk," she said.
"Every child who uses mental health services has the right to appropriate care and support. Due to unacceptable waiting lists and a substandard level of care, many children are being denied this right.
"Children should be able to rely on our mental health services in their hour of need. We must do all we can to restore trust in the mental health system and ensure that families and children receive the high standard of care they deserve."
