The Mental Health Commission has called on the Government to ensure that necessary resources and support are available for mental health services.
Publishing its annual report for 2014, the commission noted that one in five children admitted to a mental health facility were placed in an adult unit and adult facilities cannot provide appropriate care for minors.
It said access to appropriate mental health services for any patient including children is dependent on geography as resources are distributed very unevenly.
The report said mental health services had suffered a loss of staff numbers because of moratoriums in place since 2007.
It acknowledged that the Government had provided additional funding for new posts in community care centres but said that despite this staff numbers in the mental health care system are still down and 25% below what they should be.
Commission chairman John Saunders compared it to a colander saying that more staff have flowed out of the system than have been recruited.
He said the Government does need to provide additional resources but the Health Service Executive also needs to look at where resources are required to make sure the needs of the population are met in every area.
The commission also noted that compliance levels for provision of individual care plans for each patient remain very low with only 41% of approved centres achieving this in 2014 down from 60% in 2013.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mr Saunders said Ireland needs to develop zero tolerance when it comes to placing children in adult mental care services.
Mr Saunders said there were 89 child admissions to adult wards in 2014 compared to 98 in 2013.
He said that while the numbers had fallen, they were still much too high.
The commission’s chief executive, Patricia Gilheaney, said every patient has a human right to appropriate care including an individual care plan.
But the commission also welcomed improvements made in the areas of staffing, maintenance of records and children's education.
The report also expressed concern at a lack of mental health services for prisoners.
There just two forensic mental health care beds per 1,000 population in Ireland, which is much lower than in the UK.
There are 14 prisoners waiting for a bed in the Central Mental Hospital
