Sir, – In recent years, the issue of poor access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs) in Ireland has become increasingly pressing. Families across the country are facing significant challenges in obtaining timely and adequate mental health support for their children. This problem is further compounded by a noticeable lack of openness to interagency collaboration, particularly between disability services and mental health services.
The demand for Camhs far exceeds the available resources, leading to long waiting lists and delayed interventions. For many families, the wait for an initial assessment can stretch into months, if not years. This delay is not just a matter of inconvenience; it can have profound and lasting impacts on the mental health and development of young people. Early intervention is crucial in addressing mental health issues before they escalate, and the current system is failing to provide this essential support.
A particularly troubling aspect of the current system is the role of Camhs as gatekeepers to services. Families often encounter seemingly arbitrary criteria and hurdles, such as mandatory cognitive assessments, which can act as barriers rather than gateways to receiving care. These requirements can feel like exclusionary tactics, designed to limit access rather than facilitate it. This gatekeeping not only delays necessary treatment but also adds to the frustration and stress experienced by families already in crisis.
One of the critical issues exacerbating the situation is the lack of effective interagency collaboration. In theory, mental health services and disability services should work hand-in-hand to provide comprehensive care for children with complex needs. However, in practice, there is often a disconnect between these services. This fragmentation can lead to gaps in care, where children fall through the cracks of a disjointed system.
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For families, navigating this fragmented system can be an overwhelming and exhausting experience. Parents often find themselves acting as intermediaries between different services, trying to piece together a coherent care plan for their child. This not only places an additional burden on already stressed families but also risks inconsistent and inadequate care for the child.
Addressing these issues requires a multifaceted approach. First, there must be a significant investment in Camhs to reduce waiting times and ensure that all children have access to timely and appropriate mental healthcare. Second, there needs to be a cultural shift towards greater openness and collaboration between different services. This could involve joint training programmes, shared care plans, and regular interagency meetings to ensure that all professionals involved in a child’s care are working towards the same goals.
Additionally, Camhs must adopt more inclusive criteria for service access, focusing on the needs of the child rather than rigid, exclusionary protocols.
The current state of Camhs in Ireland is a cause for concern, and the lack of interagency collaboration only serves to exacerbate the problem. By investing in mental health services and fostering a culture of co-operation between different agencies, we can create a more effective and compassionate system that truly meets the needs of all children and their families. It is time for policymakers, service providers, and the community to come together and address these critical issues, ensuring that no child is left without the support they need. – Yours, etc,
Dr DEIRDRE KEARNEY,
Curracloe,
Co Wexford.
Under the mistletoe
Sir, – Growing up in the London of the 1950s and 1960s, I can vouch for the fact that kissing under the mistletoe had not “reached its apogee in the late 18th century”, as surmised by Frank McNally in his fascinating column about the mistletoe plant (An Irishman’s Diary, December 20th).
One of my abiding memories of childhood is the market stalls lit by hissing gas lamps which displayed an array of products which seemed to enter our house around Christmas only to quickly disappear again until the following Christmas. Bunches of holly, all manner of nuts (which only my father seemed to have the strength to crack open), coffin-shaped boxes of dates with exotic desert scenes on the lid, including the obligatory camel, and last, but not least, the sprigs of mistletoe. Rare was the home you entered without someone appearing with such a sprig to plant a big cheery kiss on you. It was probably one of the few customs which provided more Christmas fun for the adults than the kids. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN O’SULLIVAN,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.
A chara, – I hope this letter arrives before the Glasnevin gods of weather and plants get angry (Met Éireann and the Botanic Gardens) in response to Frank McNally’s observation that mistletoe requires a “thermosphere” climate to thrive.
Is this the same thermosphere layer of atmosphere, that starts 100km above the planet surface, and is considered the start of space travel by rocket scientists?
No wonder mistletoe is considered an alien species. – Is mise,
DERMOT O’ROURKE,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.
Learning languages
A chara, – Gerard Hanney (Letters, December 18th) is right to point out the need for caution in dealing with statistics on knowledge of foreign languages in EU countries. The vast majority of these statistics are based on the notoriously unreliable self-assessment. For a more objective view we need to look at the results of the European Commission’s “SurveyLang 2012″ which objectively tested knowledge of foreign languages in 14 EU countries. The five languages tested were English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. The results are illuminating: testing was conducted only up to the B2 level, leaving out levels C1 and C2, as the European Commission explained that a mere 1 per cent of language learners reach the C1 level, even in their first foreign language, after many years of schooling.
This whole area merits more objective open-minded research, which would also consider alternatives to the present language learning system, and actual languages studied, in all EU countries. – Is mise,
SEÁN Ó RIAIN,
Parentis-en-Born,
France.
Defining genocide
Sir, – By conflating two separate points, Raymond Deane misrepresents the final observation in my letter, implying I said Mr Martin’s desire to change the legal definition of the term genocide was “to help denigrate and delegitimise the State of Israel” (Letters, December 18th). But that was not what I said – those were my words, not Mr Martin’s. In addition, Mr Deane is incorrect in stating “Mr Abrahamson maintains that the Jewish Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin was exclusively concerned with Nazi Germany when he coined the term ‘genocide’ . . . “. I never used the word “exclusively” and, for the record, according to the UK’s Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, “The first murmurs of the legacy Raphael Lemkin would later leave imprinted in international law began in 1913. At the age of 12, he was reading Henryk Sienkiewicz’s Quo Vadis?, a book which delves into massacres of Christian converts in the first century by the Roman emperor Nero.” – Yours, etc,
DAVID M ABRAHAMSON,
Glenageary,
Co Dublin.
Responding to the climate crisis
Sir, – It is noteworthy that while John Leahy (Letters, December 20th) rails against what he sees as the excessive and disruptive costs of climate mitigation, he does not apply a similar “fact-based scientific analysis” to his preferred solution of simply adapting to the inevitable. In a recent open letter to the Nordic Council of Ministers, a group of 42 scientists warned that the possibility of a collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation in the next few decades was severely underestimated and that “adaptation to such a severe climate catastrophe is not a viable option”. Those who argue that small countries like Ireland are too small to matter and should therefore curb their ambition on climate mitigation, are proceeding on the dangerously false assumption that climate change is a crisis that humanity can adapt to. – Yours, etc,
GAVIN DALY,
Dublin 1.
Ceann Comhairle voting patterns
A chara, – Our political commentariat seem to have missed out on the significance of the Ceann Comhairle vote. Despite the endorsement of the Independent candidate Verona Murphy by the incoming taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, it’s remarkable that the two candidates from Fianna Fáil, Seán Ó Fearghaíl and John McGuinness, between them still managed to attract the support of 48 TDs. Assuming that Ms Murphy secured the votes of the majority of the 20 or so Independents, and given that her total vote of 76 on the first count was 10 short of the combined Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael vote of 86, it’s a safe assumption that at least 20, and perhaps considerably more, Fianna Fáil TDs failed to vote for the Independent candidate. This assumption is reinforced by the fact that when John McGuinness was eliminated and his 21 votes distributed 15 of them went to Mr Ó Fearghaíl and six to Aengus Ó Snodaigh of Sinn Féin. When Mr Ó Fearghaíl in turn was eliminated, it’s remarkable that his 26 transferable votes divided equally between Ms Murphy and Mr Ó Snodaigh. This left her with 89 votes (the quota was 86) and the Sinn Féin candidate on 67 votes. It was hardly a runaway victory for the candidate supported by the three legs of the would-be new government, and certainly less than an auspicious start for them. It was, however, a major political achievement for the Wexford woman herself and congratulations to her. – Is mise,
JOHN GLENNON,
Hollywood,
Co Wicklow.
Defence and Cabinet portfolios
Sir, – As the horse-trading over ministries begins, I would like to ask the party leaders to consider the position of Minister for Defence. It is surely absurd that, at a time of rising global security threats of all kinds, we have two Cabinet-level ministers for education (the Minister for Education and the Minister for Higher Education) but only a part-time Minister for Defence. – Yours, etc,
JOHN KILCULLEN,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.
Things we can always be sure of
Sir, – Commenting on the price of posting a death notice, Tom McElligott speculates (Letters, December 20th) that the cost will “simply be added to the funeral director’s bill (plus VAT?)”.
Surely the question mark is unnecessary. There are only two certainties in life, after all. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.
A cause for Celebrations
Sir, – Festive spirit was on full display from the hard-working station staff at Connolly Station this morning who greeted passengers at the barriers with open boxes of Celebrations and warm season’s greetings. It made at least one commuter’s heart sing. – Yours, etc,
ELIZABETH CORCORAN,
Dublin 5.
With all the trimmings
Sir, – Cormac Meehan (Letters, December 19th) poses the question: “Do ‘sprites’ take less time to cook” than sprouts; well, in D4, they certainly take longer to cook than “pursnips”. – Yours, etc,
PAUL DELANEY,
Dalkey,
Co Dublin.