Sinn Féin’s finance spokesperson has said that child and adolescent mental health services in Ireland are in a state of "disarray".
Speaking during Leaders Questions in the Dáil, Pearse Doherty said that the lack of staffing in Children and Adult Mental Health Services (CAMHS) made it impossible to meet the demand.
He added that the service was in "complete and utter chaos".
Mr Doherty said there are in the region of 2,560 children on the CAMHS waiting list, and almost 300 of them are waiting for over a year to be seen.
In response, the Tánaiste said he understood the frustration of parents trying to get services for their children.
Simon Coveney said that a draft report into child and adolescent mental health services will be published "shortly".
He said recruitment is the biggest challenge in terms of getting the professionals that are needed and he said that process is under way but there was a long way to go.
Recent figures by the Health Service Executive show that only half of all specialist paediatric psychiatry posts advertised in the last two years have been filled.
Figures obtained by RTÉ News under Freedom of Information show that there is currently a shortage of consultant psychiatrists with a specialism in Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
There are currently 29 vacant posts for child and adolescent psychiatrists across the country.
Mr Coveney said the HSE was committed to ensuring all aspects of CAMHS are delivered in a consistent and timely fashion.
Last year 114 new assistant psychologists and 20 psychologist were recruited to HSE primary care services to help relieve pressure on the specialist services, he said.
However, Mr Doherty said the situation is getting worse and parents were going through "torture" due to the lack of support available to their children.
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