Ba mhaith liom a bheith associated leis na focail a dúirt an Ceann Comhairle ansin. Guím gach rath ar Noel agus ar a theaghlach. Tá súil agam go mbaineann sé sult as an am atá amach roimhe.

The figures given by the HSE to my colleague Deputy Cullinane have confirmed that there is a real crisis in mental health services for children and young people. That crisis continues to deepen. There are now 4,314 children and young people waiting for a child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, appointment. That has increased by 88% from January 2020. More than 600 of these people have been waiting more than a year. The majority of these are actually in counties Kerry and Cork and those families took a difficult step to reach out for support. Instead of receiving the care they need, they feel that their children are being denied the opportunity to reach their full potential. Every expert in youth mental health will tell the Tánaiste that early intervention is vital.

We in Sinn Féin have called for multi-annual funding for CAMHS to plan forward, to staff teams properly, and for the appointment of a national clinical director for mental health. When will the Government adequately invest in mental health services for children and young people in order that they receive the care they deserve and not the failure they are getting?

I thank the Deputy very much for raising the question. We are acutely aware of the situation, particularly in counties Kerry and Cork, as the Deputy said. When it comes to CAMHS, which has the most acute situations, the issue is not funding. The issue is recruitment. We have many teams all over the country. Many posts have been sanctioned, including psychiatry posts, and all the additional supports the psychiatrist needs.

The Deputy will see in the national service plan that we have put a very strong emphasis and prioritisation on CAMHS and other youth mental health services, not just on the most acute services. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, and I are engaging directly and frequently with HSE senior management, critically, to make sure regarding the national director positions the Deputy referenced which, as the Deputy is aware, have been sanctioned, and assistant national director positions-----

They are assistant positions, not national director.

-----that the HSE can recruit into the posts to make sure we have the psychiatrists and the other clinical supports the clinicians need for various teams right across the country.

It is always someone else's fault.