There appears to be no accountability in the HSE for the disappearance of €11.2 million allocated for mental health services for children.
Fine Gael Longford/Westmeath Senator, Nicky McFadden, has called on the Government to stop neglecting children with mental health problems by providing them with essential and much needed resources. Senator McFadden said it was an outrage that a judge in Athlone had no alternative but to remand a 15-year-old in an adult detention centre due to lack of adequate resources for children.
“A frightening recent statistic indicates that 83 per cent of children in one detention centre face an average of three forms of mental health difficulties, for which none of them is receiving dedicated treatment. In 2006, €11.2 million was allocated to mental health services for children but this provision was subsequently siphoned off to another area in an attempt to fill the large black hole in the Health Service Executive coffers. It is clear that children's rights are being ignored.
“Last week in Athlone, a judge was obliged to remand a young person with an intellectual disability to an adult detention centre because there was nowhere else to place him. This is an absolute scandal. I know the judge was unable to act differently because of due regard to the separation of powers. The obligation is clearly on the executive and the legislature to make provision for such institutions and to ensure that young offenders and children suffering with mental health problems get the support they need.
“There are many cases that have been through the courts on this issue, and in these instances the judges’ hands are tied. There have been repeated warnings from the judiciary that the State resources are wholly inadequate when it comes to young offenders who require vital support. It personifies a Government who is indifferent to its responsibilities.”
