The families of children affected by issues in the Kerry mental health services will be provided with financial compensation, the Tánaiste has told the Dáil.
Leo Varadkar said there had been "huge failings" in the service and children had been put on the wrong medicines and left on them for too long.
"It is important we put this right," he said.
A review into the care of more than 1,300 children who attended the HSE-run Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) centre in south Kerry found there was clear evidence that 46 of them suffered significant harm.
The review also found that 227 children being treated by a junior doctor employed by the service had been exposed to the risk of significant harm through the doctor's diagnoses and treatment of them.
There was no system to check the prescribing of medications or the quality of service by the junior doctor's supervisors.
Yesterday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said said that there would be a full audit nationwide of compliance with CAMHS operational guidelines by all CAMHS teams.
Today, the Tánaiste told the Dáil that the Cabinet would discuss details of the review into what happened next Tuesday.
Mr Varadkar said the HSE had not been successful getting a consultant psychiatrist in Kerry and in the meantime another psychiatrist would be attending two days a week as an interim solution.
He was responding to the Labour Party leader, who said that listening to Maurice O'Connell talking about his son Jason on radio this morning was "heartbreaking".
Alan Kelly said Mr O'Connell spoke about how his son, who attended the south Kerry service, "lost his personality and lost his smile".
He added there was "deep shock" in Kerry about what had happened and there was concern about whether people could "trust the service".
"This is down to systemic failures for many years"@alankellylabour asks about details of CAMHS audit, and possible compensation. @LeoVaradkar says financial compensation will be needed for families, and that Cabinet will discuss the audit on Tuesday | https://t.co/sBTglsJBQc pic.twitter.com/TKCQY3q34K
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) January 27, 2022
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Meanwhile, Sinn Féin has called for a "step-change" in the provision of child and adolescent mental health services.
Speaking during Leaders' Questions, the party's deputy leader said that the report into south Kerry CAMHS identified basic failures of medical care that cannot be defended and should have been acted upon.
"No more apologies, what we want is action" @PearseDoherty asks what will be done to ensure CAMHS is fit for purpose. @LeoVaradkar says the most important thing the Government must do is put in place the required services to remedy the harm done | More: https://t.co/sBTglsJBQc pic.twitter.com/PXD7oLPCsN
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) January 27, 2022
Pearse Doherty said that one in five consultant psychiatrist posts are either vacant or filled on a temporary basis and this has been an issue for "years".
In response, the Tánaiste said that as a public representative and doctor he was very disturbed by the report, adding that supports will be put in place for the children and families impacted.
Mr Varadkar said that it can be very difficult to fill consultancy posts, even when salaries above €200,000 are offered.
He accused Sinn Féin of trying to make the issue a "party political one".
Mr Varadkar told the Dáil that mental health services in Northern Ireland performed inferiorly to services in the south, adding that he accepted that there were capacity constraints not just in mental health services but in other areas too.
The HSE has said it is committed to the continued development of quality, clinically effective and safe mental health services for children and adolescents.
It said that a small percentage of around 2% of the population require access to CAMHS.
It said there are 73 CAMHS teams in place around the country and all teams screen referrals.
The HSE said that every effort is made to prioritise urgent referrals so that young people at high risk are seen as soon as possible and often within 24-48 hours.
There are over 74 whole time equivalent consultant psychiatrists in the service, with over 5.6 whole time equivalent posts unfilled.
'A massive betrayal' for children and families - Ombudsman
The Ombudsman for Children said he felt there was "a massive betrayal" for the children and families affected by the South Kerry CAMHS report.
Dr Niall Muldoon said these were families looking for help for their children "at their lowest ebb".
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, he said the system was supposed to support them and if there was a difficulty with an individual doctor, the system is supposed to pick that up.
"It’s clear here that over four and five years there were a few red flags that went up that were never addressed," he said.
"It’s really concerning what came out of there.We’ve 72 CAMHS teams across the country. Any one of them could fall into the same sort of style."
Dr Muldoon said all 72 teams are "relatively independent" and the oversight is limited. This is where they "really need to move", he added.
He said the report highlighted that there was a concern that the team would not accept a new leader.
Additional reporting Tommy Meskill, Fergal Bowers
