Sinn Féin spokesperson on Mental Health, Mark Ward TD, has called for the scope of any review into CAMHS in South Kerry and nationwide to include the role played by TUSLA.

Teachta Ward said:

“A response to a parliamentary question I received stated that some children who were accessing CAMHS South Kerry were also offered supports through TUSLA.

“Parents have told me that social workers from TUSLA often sat in on consultations between the psychiatrist and the child.

“Speaking with parents of children who were mistreated and misdiagnosed, they told me that they feel that not only did CAMHS fail their children but that TUSLA did also.

“The lookback review into CAMHS South Kerry stated that ‘they did not find clear evidence that the appropriate consent for treatment had been obtained by TUSLA , and a clear process was not described when we raised this with the social workers’.

“This is another arm of the state involved in the process that allowed the mistreatment of children to carry on unchecked.

“We have heard major concerns about CAMHS raised in north Kerry, Cork, Wexford and Dublin,  and I suspect that this is only the tip of the iceberg.

“During questions in the Dáil today, I called on the Taoiseach to ensure that a full comprehensive and independent audit into all 73 CAMHS services is carried out nationwide – that review must include the role played by TUSLA.”