What does the Programme for Government say on youth mental health?

The incoming Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and Independents Government has just published a Programme for Government, but in the midst of a youth mental health crisis what does it say?

Here we pick through the document and let you know what the incoming government are saying about helping young people in need.

We have pulled out some of the key sections in this exhaustive document. There are more sections which relate to youth and well-being and we have included a link to the document below.

Page 95 – Mental Health

This Government is committed to promoting good mental health and ensuring access to appropriate supports when and where people need them. We will fully implement the national mental health policy, ‘Sharing the Vision’. A priority for this Government is the enactment of the Mental Health Bill 2024, the passage of which is essential to modernise our mental health services.

Mental health workforce and infrastructure

This Government will:

• Continue to recruit staff both nationally and internationally.
• Expand psychology assistant posts.
• Expand the number of funded places in Clinical Psychology Doctorate training.
• Develop and implement a ten-year mental health refurbishment and investment infrastructure plan.
• Consider measures to attract and retain staff in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), we will also develop a new workforce plan to address immediate staffing shortages and longer-term needs.
• Examine the establishment of new expedited qualification routes for professionals with relevant skills and experience.

Community based supports

This Government will:

• Support local groups like Men’s Sheds, Women’s Sheds and Active Retirement communities.
• Continue to support the voluntary and community sector working in mental health.
• Maximise telehealth and virtual health technologies.

Child and Youth mental health

This Government will:

• Legislate to regulate CAMHS.
• Continue to expand the central referral mechanism to simplify referrals to community paediatric services, including CAMHS, to ensure that no child is placed on the wrong waiting list.
• Continue to resource CAMHS teams to reduce waiting lists.
• Establish targeted supports for children with autism experiencing mental health challenges.
• Develop a new care model for HSE Primary Care Psychology to expedite services for young people with less complex issues.
• Enhance youth mental health services for those up to age 25, focusing on smoother transitions from CAMHS to adult mental health services.
• Increase staffing in under-18 dual diagnosis services to better treat young people with mental health and substance abuse issues.
• Continue to invest in waiting list initiatives.
• Launch the Youth Mental Health app to support the mental health needs of young people.

The Section also includes commitments to grow supports for people with eating disorders, suicide prevention, perinatal mental healthcare, and supports for older people.

Page 70 – Safer, healthier children

This government will:

• Work with school leaders to ensure schools are smartphone-free zones to protect student wellbeing and learning.
• Review the mental health and wellbeing pilots that are ongoing in primary and post-primary schools and expand them.
• Ensure the implementation of the actions in the Zero Tolerance Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence.
• Implement and monitor the roll-out of the Behaviours of Concern guidelines to ensure the needs of children with special educational needs are met.
• Expand the FUSE anti-bullying programme to reach more students and schools.
• Promote digital literacy and online safety education in schools, especially through Webwise in collaboration with Coimisiún na Meán and other organisations to ensure children understand online safety risks and increase supports against bullying, online abuse and expanding counselling resources.
• Continue to implement digital literacy and online safety education in schools and launch public awareness campaigns to educate and support parents.
• Introduce a holistic wellness programme that addresses urgent health and social issues facing young people today including: * A Comprehensive Wellness Approach, focusing on physical activity, nutrition, emotional wellbeing, and positive social behaviour in schools, promoting at least 60 minutes of physical activity throughout the full day for children of all abilities.

The Draft Programme for Government 2025 Securing Ireland’s Future is available on both the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael websites.

Click here to see the document in full.