2026-02-11

At the outset, I acknowledge the tremendous work that the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has carried out over many years now. Absolutely no one knows more about the CAMHS scandal, as it is now known, in Kerry than the Minister of State. I acknowledge that at all times when meetings were requested, etc., she agreed to attend. As a councillor many years ago now, I was invited up by the south Kerry CAMHS families. I was the first in Kerry to be asked to come up to try to help in what was a horrendous ordeal for many individuals and young children, many of whom are now young adults. In that context, I thank the Minister of State. Are all the individuals concerned sorted out with regard to compensation and services? I know many of these families and individuals personally. I have dealt with them for a long time. Lives were ruined, to be honest. They were mis-medicated and misdiagnosed. In the early days, little did we know that there were hundreds involved. We all know about the north Kerry CAMHS situation that followed. It is hugely important that all these people involved, including their families, are receiving the right services today. I sincerely hope a similar type of situation will never again arise. I am not sure what happened to the Topical Issue I submitted but it was two-pronged; it was about north Kerry as well. I sincerely hope it is a similar case in north Kerry and that the individuals and their families are being dealt with. A question that has been asked time and again relates to the north Kerry CAMHS lookback review, which is long overdue. I know it is not in the question but I do not know what happened there. I had included the whole lot in the one question but it must have been divided or whatever. I have been in the houses of these young individuals who were affected and they were like zombies. Many of these people are the brightest you will ever come across, not only in this country but in the world. Their intelligence and everything else is beyond description. I know one young lady who is fluent in the Japanese language, for example. I wish to mention Davin Godfrey, who has been a spokesperson for the CAMHS families in Kerry. He is from Listowel and is going to train to be a lawyer. His story fascinated me. I spent two and a half hours with him, his mum and his grandmother a number of years ago. I remember the day because it was the day the late Senator, Paul Coghlan, was being waked. I went from Killarney to their home in Listowel. He told me he used to go to court cases and sit at the back. In many ways, he more or less educated himself.

I thank Deputy Cahill and I acknowledge the work he has done regarding the situation with CAMHS services in Kerry when he was a councillor and when he met me as well as the advocacy work he did with the families and the parents. I am happy to be here this morning to take his question and I will answer as best I can. As the Deputy will be aware, as Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, I was in this role when the Maskey report was published in 2022. The report examined deficits relating to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, CAMHS, in south Kerry. The Maskey report examined the files of everyone who received care from south Kerry CAMHS between 1 July 2016 and 19 April 2021. It identified that 240 young people did not receive the standard of care they should have had from CAMHS. At the time, the HSE issued an apology, offered open disclosure meetings to the cohort identified as having suffered potential harm or injury or risk of harm or injury in south Kerry, and instigated a series of follow-up actions and changes. The Deputy will remember that at the time I, as Minister of State, commissioned a national audit from the HSE in relation to every single CAMHS team in Ireland. I also asked the Mental Health Commission to carry out a national review. These were all concluded and the CAMHS teams outside of Kerry, in the review and in the audit, did not see the same challenges regarding the overprescribing we saw in Kerry. The Government acknowledged these deficits at the time and, as the Deputy said, I worked closely with my Government colleagues, including the Attorney General, to introduce a non-adversarial route for children and their families to seek compensation for the shortfall in care received. Following on from this, and the challenges we have seen in Kerry, I established the first ever national child and youth mental health office in the HSE to drive reform of CAMHS. I appointed a national clinical lead for child and youth mental health services for the first time and directed a national prescribing audit. I subsequently published the child and youth mental health action plan last year, which details 17 areas for service improvement. Implementation of the action plan is under way, and I monitor progress very closely. This also resulted in the development and delivery of the Kerry CAMHS compensation scheme, which is managed and administered by the State Claims Agency on behalf of the HSE. As of 12 January 2026, four weeks ago, the State Claims Agency received 231 applications to the south Kerry CAMHS compensation scheme. As we know, there were 240 cases. Payments on account had been made to 227 applicants following an application verification process. Mediations were also ongoing, and 120 of these had taken place up to 12 January, resulting in 111 settlements, four cases for determination by the mediator and five adjourned for further investigations. I understand there is one lead firm of solicitors representing most of the remaining applicants to the scheme. Subject to the solicitors' capacity to progress their caseload, the State Claims Agency aims to finalise the remaining cases in the next 18 months. The State Claims Agency continues to engage with the processes involved in the compensation scheme. As the Deputy will appreciate, I do not have access to a list of settlement amounts paid out by the State Claims Agency, and I will speak to north Kerry when I come back in.

I thank the Minister of State.

I remind the Deputy it is best not to identify individuals by name.

I acknowledge the work that has been done here. I call for the outstanding cases to be expedited and dealt with as soon as possible. I recall the first and second time I was up here and one of the representatives of the recent hunger strikers. I acknowledge the fact that at the time, the HSE issued an apology but I reiterate a call I have made many times, which is that they deserve a public apology from the Taoiseach. I have spoken with the Taoiseach recently on this matter and the Minister of State might engage with him on that matter. It is the least these families and individuals deserve. It is important all cases are dealt with as soon as possible both in north and south Kerry. It is also important the north Kerry CAMHS review is published. To be honest, I am raising it all the time. The CEO of the HSE, Mr. Gloster, mentioned something at the last meeting - this was only in the past two weeks - which was that we should not be looking back but looking forward. I hope that will be the case for all the families involved and that they can get on with their lives and flourish in every sense. I wish them the very best and good health and happiness going forward.

Following a national audit of prescribing CAMHS, which we spoke about, where we did a random sample audit of 50 files in the case of every CAMHS team in the country, all 76 of them at the time, concerns were identified in 16 of 50 files reviewed in CAMHS in north Kerry. This prompted a lookback review of all cases open to CAMHS as of 21 November 2022. My main priority, and this will always remain, is that the children and families will be communicated with throughout the lookback process, which has happened. All families where the potential for harm was identified were invited to open disclosure meetings with the HSE. I reiterate I am speaking about Kerry north now. Apologies were issued and families have been offered supports from a clinical liaison support team. My Department received the final report over the weekend. I am now reading the report and considering next steps. I want to publish it as soon as possible, being mindful that families need to receive it without delay. Families will receive the report first, after I bring it to Cabinet. They will not hear it from the media or when they go to their local shop. I am adamant about that. I will work with my Government colleagues, including the Attorney General, to decide the next steps. In response to the Deputy's invitation to me and to the Minister for children, Deputy Foley, I will be visiting Kerry shortly, as soon as I publish the report.

Sula mbrúnn muid ar aghaidh chuig an gcéad ábhar eile, nuair a bhí an phaidir á rá agam níos luaithe ag tús an tseisiúin, chuir sí i gcuimhne dom gurb é inniu Lá Fhéile Gobnait, an 11 Feabhra. Is lá mór é do mhuintir Mhúscraí. Leanfaidh muid ar aghaidh leis an gcéad ábhar eile in ainmneacha na dTeachtaí Byrne agus Guirke, to the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport.