Camhs scheme welcome but no amount of money could compensate families, says father
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Junior Minister Mary Butler has said a compensation scheme for families affected by the over-prescribing scandal in South Kerry mental health services (Camhs) will not be adversarial.
It was announced on Tuesday that families would get details of the compensation scheme this week.
It came about after the Maskey report found clear evidence that 46 children had suffered significant harm and 227 were exposed to the risk of significant harm due to the over-prescribing of medication by a junior child psychiatrist.
The Department of Health said the HSE in Cork/Kerry has now written to families with details of a compensation scheme.
Ms Butler said: "One of the basic principles of the scheme is that the compensation awards will be in line with what a court would award. We're trying to make this as less stressful as possible for the parents. We're trying to design it in such a way if we be quicker for applicants."
She said nine senior counsels will be appointed as mediators and they will enter a process to agree an award with families and their legal teams.
"It will not be adversarial. This has been designed to support families because I'm extremely conscious of the impact the Maskey report has had on families, this was shocking and disturbing.
"We moved very, very quickly to put in place this scheme to support these families who have been to hell and back over the last four or five years," Ms Butler told RTÉ's
She said she would not give an indication as to the amount that could be awarded as this could be "unfair" on families but said the compensation would be "substantial".
Ms Butler added that upfront costs of €5,000 would be provided to help families obtain a solicitor.
"Nobody wants to drag families or children to lengthy court adversarial processes. This will not happen," she said.
Among those impacted by the over-prescribing was 14-year-old Jason O'Connell from Cahersiveen.Â
His father, Maurice, previously told The Irish Times of his immense pain and anger after his son transformed from a happy, bubbly child into a “zombie” after he was prescribed a 'cocktail of drugs' to treat his ADHD by a junior doctor in Kerry Camhs.
Mr O'Connell told the same radio show that his son "lost his smile and his happy go lucky self" and was "letting out roars and screeches" when he was on too much medication. They were on suicide watch for much of the time Jason was over-medicated by a doctor who is no longer with Kerry Camhs.
He has welcomed the new compensation scheme but says that no amount of money could compensate the families for the horrors they have experienced. He also fears that the scheme could be more adversarial than has been suggested.
"There is nothing really that can compensate for the last four years. I have read a bit about the Redress and I am more frightened of it than anything else. I am frightened of it because I have gone through Redress with the industrial schools and when they say it is non-adversarial it turns into adversarial behind closed doors.
"A lot of the parents as well as myself won't have the mental capacity to put up with another hit. I would be looking for assurances (that this won't be adversarial). "
A solicitor who represents some of the families affected said that in the first instance, they have welcomed the compensation scheme.
Keith Rolls said that families welcome the opening payment of €5,000 to cover initial expenses.
Mr Rolls stated that they have yet to be informed as to the maximum or minimum award on offer and that many families are still waiting to receive their correspondence on the scheme.
"Unfortunately a lot of the families that Coleman Legal are representing haven't received this correspondence yet so I expect to be quite busy as well today. At the outset it was our offices feeling and counsel's feeling that all of these cases would be issued in the High Court anyway with jurisdiction of over €60,000 per claim so that is what we will be seeking for our clients at the outset," he said.
Meanwhile, Ms Butler has raised concerns that a permanent clinical lead consultant psychiatrist position has still not be filled in South Kerry.
The recruitment of a full-time consultant to lead the service was a key recommendation of the Maskey report as this position has remained vacant since 2016.
"That post is funded since 2016 and unfortunately that post has not been successfully filled.
"I would be concerned at the fact that the post hasn't been filled since 2016. I can't understand the reason behind that."
Ms Butler said there have been "challenges" in filling a number of different positions across the country.
However, she said two consultant child psychiatrists currently providing part-time cover in the region - one based in Cork and one from Galway who both work two days in Kerry.
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