I thank the Deputy for raising this really important issue. I compliment him on his advocacy for the families and the children over many years. As he knows, a report relating to another group of children who unfortunately were harmed by the mental health services in Kerry was published recently. I visited and met with some of the families. At that time, I said that I would be coming forward very soon with a new compensation scheme. I will be able to announce the details of that tomorrow. Again, it will be a non-adversarial scheme. The Taoiseach was very conscious that we had to continue the same approach that has worked really well for 230 of the previous 240 children who have availed of the scheme. I will also announce details of the further look-back report. Over the recess at Easter, I will visit Kerry and meet some of the families that the Deputy asked me to meet and that I was not able to meet the last day I was there.

Sentiment score: 0.07

I thank the Deputy for raising this really important issue. Primary care psychology and the CAMHS teams are two separate services, as the Deputy knows and understands. The majority of the children on the waiting list are for the primary care psychology team. They are not for the CAMHS team. We are trying to reduce the number of children waiting for CAMHS. I visited over 21 teams in the past six months to see what we could do to support the teams on the ground. There are a lot of culture issues and different challenges across different teams. No two teams are the same. In relation to the Deputy's question, there will be a waiting list initiative this year for primary care psychology to try to remove as many children as possible from that list. Believe it or not, it does not technically come under the mental health budget. I am putting a complete focus on it because it has a knock-on effect on the CAMHS teams.

Sentiment score: 0.21