Nearly 600 children have been waiting for more than a year for an appointment with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service.
According to data released in response to a parliamentary question from Sinn Féin spokesperson for mental health Mark Ward, waiting lists for CAMHS have nearly doubled over the past two and a half years.
The waiting list was 2,112 in July 2020. This had risen to 3,937 by November 2022.
Mr Ward said the figures provided by the Health Service Executive showed in November there were 579 children waiting over 12 months for a CAMHS appointment, an increase of 168% on the June 2020 figure of 216.
Speaking to RTÉ's News at One, the TD for Dublin Mid-West said that these figures relate to children who are waiting on their first appointment.
"If people don't get the early intervention that's needed, that's going to cause more acute problems later on in life," he said.
He said there is a problem "all over the country" but the situation is worse in certain places.
"In some areas, it's postcode politics, depending on where you live." The data show Kerry is the worst impacted.
Mr Ward said there has been an "absolute failure in children's mental health care under Minister Mary Butler", arguing "We have seen a dramatic rise in waiting lists for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services since this Government was formed in late June of 2020."
In response, the Department of Health said that a record €1.2bn has been allocated to mental health services for 2023.
It said that a "significant proportion" of this will go to CAMHS and Primary Care Psychology.
It also said that a key focus for Ms Butler, who is Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for Mental Health and Older People, is to "ensure timely access to services, especially for long-waiters".
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage PreferencesConcerned parent and campaigner Maurice O'Connell told RTÉ News that CAMHS "needs to be completely demolished and restarted from the ground up".
He said that lives are being wasted and families are losing years waiting for appropriate treatment.
Mr O'Connell also said that some children are being forced to have video-consultations, rather than in-person appointments with doctors.
He previously told RTÉ's Drivetime of his own family's plight and failures in the care his son received.
The Maskey report into south Kerry CAMHS later found that the care received by 240 young people "did not meet the standards which it should have", and the HSE has apologised to these young people and their families.
Separately, the focus of several of the cases published today by the Child Law Project focus on the State's inability to provide appropriate placements for vulnerable children.
In one such case, a teenage girl, who was both in care and a Ward of Court, was detained for several months in the paediatric wing of a hospital due to escalating patterns of self-harm.
CAMHS refused to admit her to one of its inpatient units.
After a failed attempt at mainstream residential care, the teenager was placed in the "least worst option" of a children's hospital.
CEO of the Child Law Project, Dr Maria Corbett said: "The State appears ill-equipped to respond to children who have experienced trauma or loss, who have a disability or mental health issue and whose home life or care placement has broken down.
"These children often display self-harming and other challenging behaviours. Discussions in court cite difficulties recruiting and retaining care staff, the limited number of special care beds, and the narrow legislative definitions required to trigger an obligation on HSE disability and CAMHS mental health services to get involved.
"Political attention is urgently needed to rectify the State’s failure to provide a timely, joined-up response to these vulnerable children."
SIPTU concerned over staffing levels at CAMHS unit in Cork
SIPTU representatives have written to the management of the Eist Linn Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) expressing concerns over staffing levels at its facility in Bessborough, Blackrock, Co Cork.
The union says that four nursing staff have notified management of their intent to leave the service which means there will be 11 whole time equivalent nursing vacancies within the Eist Linn inpatient unit.
"The current level of nursing vacancies within the Eist Linn inpatient unit is intolerable and is leading to heavy dependence on agency staff and the use of overtime within the unit," said SIPTU Organiser Natasha Linehan Treacy.
"We have written to management to seek an urgent meeting on this issue."
"A comprehensive plan on how it is intended that management will address the level of nursing vacancies in the immediate term is essential," added Ms Linehan Treacy.
Cork Kerry Community Healthcare said there are a number of nursing vacancies at Eist Linn and that while it is working to fill the posts as quickly as possible, the recruitment environment is "currently challenging".
"Management at Eist Linn are putting plans in place to address these staff shortages, in order to minimise the impact on the young people using services," Cork Kerry Community Healthcare said in a statement.
The group said that Eist Linn management engage with staff representative bodies monthly through a communication forum and that nursing staff levels are among the issues discussed.
"Notwithstanding the current challenging recruitment climate, we continue to actively seek solutions," the group said.
