I would like to raise today the difficulty in securing timely appointments with the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. From a response to a parliamentary question I raised last month, I can confirm that nationally, over 4,000 children are waiting for their first CAMHS appointment and 605 of those have been waiting more than a year. I will give one example from my constituency. A young person who was first referred in 2021 and later discharged, was then referred again in 2025. This was declined and a private assessment came back stating that this person needed urgent CAMHS intervention. The frustrating thing here, particularly around mental health, is that if the child had broken their arm, we would not be expecting a year for surgery or care. It should not be taking that long for mental health care.

I thank the Deputy very much for his question. There were 4,047 children on the CAMHS waiting list nationally in September 2025, a decrease of 97 from 4,144. We have seen a reduction of 445 children in the last five months. I have taken to the car and visited 21 CAMHS teams in the last five months to try to get under the bonnet as to why some teams are doing really well and some are not doing as well. In 2025, CAMHS teams received funding of €170 million. An additional €30 million was provided in the last two years and, unfortunately, we only saw the waiting lists going in one direction. However, I am pleased to say that we have seen a reduction of 11% over the last five months and a reduction of 18% for those waiting over 12 months. I have met each regional executive officer, REO, in the six regions and asked them about this. I do not want any child waiting, but I certainly do not want any child waiting over 12 months, so I am on top of that. In relation to a child not being accepted, that is a clinical decision in which I cannot interfere, unfortunately.