Government rhetoric on mental health appears to be just hollow waffle

People Before Profit TDs Gino Kenny and Bríd Smith have slammed the decision to close the Linn Dara child and adolescent high-intensity day hospital in Cherry Orchard.

The HSE has announced the closure of the Linn Dara Day Hospital in Cherry Orchard which is a vital part of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in Dublin. This is despite the fact that the day hospital is only one of three nationwide despite recommendations that there should be around 15 such facilities.

Gino Kenny who is a member of the Dáil Committee on Mental Health said: “This decision is an absolute outrage and the government should hang their heads in shame. The reason for this closure is the same as last years closure of 11 beds at the same facility; the inability to recruit and retain nursing and other staff.

“I will be raising this issue next week in the Dáil with the government before the summer recess. We have to put as much pressure on as possible so this decision is reversed.”

Brid Smith TD for Dublin South Central said: “The closure of this Linn Dara day unit is just awful. This unit is one of only three such facilities in the country. A recent Oireachtas committee recommended more not less of such units. It clearly shows the contempt that the government has for child and adolescent mental health services.

“Coming in the middle of a spike in the numbers of young women in the adjacent area who died tragically from suicide, this move highlights again how the state is falling our young people with mental health issues, it simply is not a priority and this shows it clearly.

“For all the government’s rhetoric about how we as a nation need to prioritise mental health, we can see that this is all just hollow waffle. The discontinuation of a vital, high-intensity service for vulnerable young people in the area is a hammer blow to the community and the wider Dublin area. The continued understaffing in our health service and the failure of this government to retain nurses is hitting the service vulnerable young people need.”