More than 100 children waiting over four years for psychology services in Cork, figures show

The fact that over 100 children are waiting more than four years to be seen by primary care psychology services in Cork is “deeply shocking” as the total number of children and teenagers on the list for Cork and Kerry now tops 5,000, Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns has said.

Ms Cairns raised the issue of primary care psychology services for children in Cork and Kerry in the Dáil in May when she was informed by the HSE that 4,785 young people were then waiting to be seen by the Cork/Kerry primary care psychology services.

Ms Cairns requested a breakdown of waiting times for these 4,785 children and young persons and she has now been informed by the HSE that the total number of young people on the Cork-Kerry primary care psychology waiting list has grown to 5,009.

Of these 5,009 young people waiting on primary care psychology services, some 105 are waiting four to five years, 319 are waiting three to four years and 1,045 are waiting two to three years, the HSE stated in response to a parliamentary question tabled by the Cork South West TD.

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“It’s clear from these figures that waiting-lists in the Cork-Kerry primary care psychology services are completely out of control,” said Ms Cairns, noting the North Lee and South Lee services were in greatest difficulty, with waiting-lists of 1,531 and 1,632 young people.

“After I raised this in the Dáil a month ago, as my colleague Deputy Róisín Shortall did in the Oireachtas Health Committee, we still don’t know from the HSE whether these figures are typical nationally or represent a crisis that is particular to Cork-Kerry.

“The fact that 105 young people in the Cork services are waiting four to five years for intervention is deeply shocking. We need the Minister for Mental Health to take the situation in hand and devise an urgent plan to address this crisis in primary care psychology services in Cork-Kerry.”

Pointing out that the HSE have still not indicated whether the Cork-Kerry figures are reflective of a broader national picture, Ms Cairns said greater investment was needed in these services to address the mental health problems facing children and young people in the south west.

She pointed out that despite “these spiralling waiting-lists” the funding for Cork/Kerry primary care psychology dropped from €2,586,829 in 2021 to €2,055,053 in 2022, rising slightly again to €2,199,414 in 2023 and this clearly was not sufficient to address the growing problem.

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