Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide has accused the HSE of attempting to conceal the scale of the crisis in primary care psychology services.
Deputy Quaide, who is the party’s spokesperson on mental health and disability, said:
“I am deeply frustrated with the unanswered or partly answered parliamentary questions on this matter. The responses I received indicate a clear pattern of waiting list figures being either withheld or obscured by the HSE.
“In April, I submitted questions on primary care psychology services to all the Regional Health Areas, seeking a breakdown of waiting times in categories of years and months.
“Eleven weeks later, I have yet to receive any response from the Dublin and North East Regional Health Area and Dublin and Midlands Regional Health Area. Anecdotally, I understand that the waiting lists in these areas could be well in excess of five years.
“I have also asked the HSE for a composite response to questions on primary care waiting lists nationally. To date, however, the Primary Care Access and Integration Office has declined to offer a more refined breakdown than the 52-plus weeks for young people waiting more than a year, and have failed to share the longest wait times for each Regional Health Area.
“Primary care services have been neglected for years by successive governments. They are now deep in crisis in most parts of the country, with waiting lists out of control and staff morale on the floor.
“It is also getting more difficult for psychology managers to fill the paltry number of posts they are allowed to advertise because candidates would be taking up a role in a service that has been hollowed out.
“Long before the current recruitment restrictions and embargo, primary care services had large volumes of referrals redirected to them from disability services. This all happened under the rollout of ‘Progressing Disabilities’, with no commensurate increase in staffing levels.
“Primary care psychology services support people with mild to moderate mental health or disability related difficulties. There are currently over 6,500 children and adolescents on the waiting lists for primary care psychology in Cork and Kerry alone. This has come about through years of neglect and a basic failure by successive governments to fund those services.
“The first step in addressing this crisis is acknowledging its scale. It is essential that the government commits to a comprehensive recruitment drive in primary care.”
June 23, 2025