Government “playing fantasy mental health budgets” with people says Ward

Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Mental Health, Mark Ward TD, has called out the Government for playing “fantasy mental health budgets” with people.

The Dublin Mid-West TD believed that this year’s Budget failed to tackle lasting issues in Ireland’s mental health servies.

Ward said, “I’m not going to waste time playing fantasy mental health budgets, it’s too serious for this.”

“So, let me lay it bare; This is the government’s legacy after 5 years. When they took office in 2020, there were 2,115 children waiting on a first-time appointment with CAMHS.”

“There are now 3681 children. That’s a 74% increase under their watch; 5 years ago, there were 223 children left languishing over a year on waiting list for CAMHS. Today there are 504 children waiting,” he noted.

“We had damning reports into CAMHS by Maskey and the Mental Health Commission – these reported children misdiagnosed, mistreated, and lost in the system.”

He said that in 2020, there were 72 CAMHS inpatient beds, with that figure now standing at 51.

“There were only 3 adult inpatient beds for eating disorders in the state when they took office – and guess what, here we are 5 years later and there are still only 3 beds.”

He noted that in 2020, 9689 children were on a waiting list for psychological appointments, with that figure now standing at 18,368.

He said these figures were the legacy of Minister Mary Butler.

“I’s a legacy of heart break and a legacy of children being denied every opportunity to reach their full potential.”

“In Sinn Fein’s Mental Health Action plan we have the solutions to solve the problems that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil caused in Mental Health.

“We have a fully costed 5-year strategy that would give hope to people in need by transforming our services – Snn Féin will be ready if given the opportunity in the upcoming election because people deserve better than what we have be given from this Government,” he said.