Families who have dealt with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) have called for urgent reform of the system.
Hannah Ní Ghiolla Mhairtín, from Families for Reform of CAMHS, told the Oireachtas Committee on Health that despite the view in July 2023 of the Inspector of Mental Health Services, that she could not provide assurance that children have access to safe mental health services, there has yet to be real reform.
The organisation said some young people can wait a year after referral to access services, with Ms Ní Ghiolla Mhairtín adding that families take on the fight for CAMHS services at their most vulnerable times.
The organisation said it published a report 18 months ago which was based on the experiences of 738 families accessing CAMHS.
One of the big issues, it said, is getting through the referral process and that for 44% of families, it took multiple referrals before being accepted.
Ms Ní Ghiolla Mhairtín told deputies that families have said that their child with suicidal ideation or self-harm have been turned away without any discussion or their child being met.
She said that once families make it onto the waiting list, the fight for services continues.
Jigsaw CEO Dr Joseph Duffy said the youth mental health system was increasingly under pressure, over-stretched, under-funded and under constant strain of demand.
He said that young people are struggling to cope, and parents are left to shoulder the pain.
Dr Duffy said that demand for Jigsaw services - the support organisation for young people - across the country is at an all-time high, and that last year it had over 11,000 referrals to its services.
SpunOut CEO Sinéad Keane said it connects with over 1.4 million young people a year.
She said the organisation wants to see increased investment in mental health funding in Budget 2027, in particular for early intervention in youth mental health services.
Ms Keane said the National Standards for CAMHS should be published in a timely manner and that there should be a move to regulation once published.
She also told the committee that CAMHS teams must be provided with the funding, staffing, and training necessary to meet these new standards.
Pádraig Rice, Social Democrats TD and Chairperson of the Committee, said that families are being pushed into private care which is wrong and that services should be available in the public system.
In a statement, the Health Service Executive said that over the last two years, an extra €32 million has been allocated to support CAMHS to increase core staffing, reduce waiting lists, and to improve crisis cover for services.
The HSE said that the Electronic Health Record will replace current paper-based records across all CAMHS services.
It said it is working hard to minimise waiting lists and regrets any child or young person having to wait for care and a single point of access is being developed for all child and youth mental health referrals.
The HSE said its Child and Youth Mental Health Office was established in 2023, to focus on delivering strengthened and more integrated supports across the country.
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