Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental health condition. Eating disorder services in this country do not reflect the seriousness of this. Young people with eating disorders face a medical cliff-edge when they reach adulthood. Their care can simply stop. They are discharged from CAMHS and placed on a waiting list for adult services that are understaffed, under-resourced and, in 14 counties, are non-existent. Families describe it as being cut loose. The care stops dead and there is little to no continuity. With eating disorders, the gap in treatment can cause rapid regression. We know what works: early intervention and seamless transition, colocated child and adult mental health service teams, clear national pathways, stepdown care and mandatory handover planning before a young person turns 18. An eating disorder does not disappear on your 18th birthday. Our services cannot either. Will the Minister implement a mandatory standardised transition pathway from child to adult services?

I thank the Deputy for her question. In fairness, she has always been a strong advocate for supports for those with eating disorders. It is the most debilitating mental health illness that you can have. We have made progress over the past five years. Some 95% of all those with an eating disorder are treated in the community. We have 14 of the 16 teams funded; 11 of them are in place and we are recruiting the other five. Two more were announced in budget 2026. I know the Deputy will be happy to hear that yesterday, as part of the capital plan, a provision was made for adult eating disorder beds, 20 beds in total. We will base eight of them in St. Vincent's. We have agreement from the board of St. Vincent's do to that. Six will be in the south east, more than likely Cork, and six in the north west, maybe around the Roscommon area. We are making progress but I do appreciate that it is very difficult. We have looked specifically at children coming out of CAMHS teams into adult teams. That is a challenge in some areas where the teams are not in place. There are over 100 dedicated clinicians working in eating disorder teams now, with a ring-fenced budget.