Families across all nine community healthcare organisation areas of the HSE have experienced some level of delays and shortcomings in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) system.
The greatest area of concern was CHO 3, covering Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary.
Helena Reddan is a 58-year-old grandmother living in Moyross in Limerick city. She is raising three of her grandchildren, including 17-year-old Antone who suffers with depression.
"I get very low sometimes and I stay locked in my room. It would be great to get an appointment to see a counsellor, but there's nobody I can turn to except nana," he said.
"If it wasn't for her, I don't know where I would be now."
Antone is waiting for an appointment to see a consultant psychiatrist for three years. There is no out-of-hours service for young people under 18 years of age. The advice is to contact Shannondoc or their own GP.
Ms Reddan says the CAMHS system has failed him and she says her own mental health has been affected by the ongoing struggles in the family home, as she despairs of getting the treatment and support she needs for her grandchild.
"You get sick and tired of ringing up and you're told 'Oh, he's on a waiting list. Oh, he's number 14 on the list'; What does it mean? It means nothing, because 12 months down the road he's still number 14 on that list," she said.
"Antone needs help for himself and I'm concerned for him," Ms Reddan added.
"I fight the battle because he's my grandson and I put all my time into it. I'm trying to hold him together and hoping and praying that eventually he will get an appointment, but that's very doubtful.
"And he's seven months away from being 18. And I don't think you'll get an appointment with CAMHS. He'll be referred to the adult services for another waiting list and that could be god knows how long six; months, a year, two years? I don't know," she said.
Evelyn Hogan is Ms Reddan's best friend and she has witnessed her own family struggle with mental issues.
"I wouldn't recommend CAMHS to anyone. We've tried to get access to the care and attention we urgently needed but it just wasn't available," Ms Hogan said.
"The waiting lists were too long, so we managed to go elsewhere and, thankfully, things have improved a lot now."
Ms Reddan wells up as she says there are too many children that have issues and not getting the help they need.
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"There's an awful lot of children out there besides my grandson that need help and have no access to it whatsoever," she said.
"You have to keep going to support your grandchild to try and help the person struggling so badly. You have to find the strength in yourself to support these kids and keep them as happy as you can and help them as much as you can.
"While you're still battling to get an appointment for them to see someone professional that will guide you on the right road," she added.
Ms Reddan said that she is a strong woman as she wipes away tears.
"It's hard at my age and I had serious surgery less than two years ago," she said.
"So my own mental health is affected and trying to manage my own mental health and then manage my grandchildren as well. It's a constant battle.
"I feel that I'm the one that's going to break but I can't. I can't break. If I break, they all break."
Ms Reddan called on the Government to commit to investing in proper services for young people who are vulnerable and become more proactive on mental health.
She was critical of the lack of out-of-hours service for under 18s and the lack of consistency when it comes to planning appointments.
"You never see the one consultant for a child because it's constantly rotating," she said.
"So even if you're lucky enough to get an appointment with CAMHS, you have to go back and start over with a new psychiatrist.
"The Government needs to employ permanent mental health staff to help kids and adults, especially children.
"I'm a single grandmother, I can't afford to go private."
The HSE Mid-West Community Healthcare has apologised to children and families who did not receive the standard of care they deserve.
At present there are 315 people on waiting lists in the CHO 3 area for an initial assessment. A total of 79 have been waiting more than a year.
A spokesperson said that they have cut waiting lists by more than a third in the past year and additional recruitment was under way.
A CAMHS hub is also being developed in the mid-west, one of several throughout the country.
The hub is a national clinical programme for which the mid-west is a pilot site.
It is intended that the hub and associated pathways will provide an alternative to inpatient care providing children and young people with acute treatment at home or in the hub day hospital, which will be located in Limerick.
The HSE says that when a young child or adolescent gets a diagnosis by the multidisciplinary team, he or she can then opt to have some supports provided online.
The HSE Mid-West Community Healthcare said that the delivery of a high quality CAMHS service to the children and young people of Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary is a priority.
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