New Figures Show Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Only Working At Half Capacity

New figures obtained by Sinn Fein show that the services are only working at 56 per cent of levels recommended under ‘A Vision for Change’- the government’s mental health policy launched in 2006.

It’s understood that staffing deficits are so severe that services need a 40 million euro investment to address the shortages.

Nearly two thousand six hundred children are waiting for their first mental health counselling appointment. 

The figures from the HSE show last month there were almost 300 young people waiting over a year to be seen. 

Waiting lists for child and adolescent mental health services have risen for the last three months. 

Wicklow Sinn Fein TD John Brady says the figures show the Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy and the government have a complete disregard for young people.