Camhs teams only have a quarter of recommended staff levels

The teams are part of the child and adolescent mental health services (Camhs), which has struggled with recruitment to match rising demand in recent years. Stock picture

Mental health teams for children who also have an intellectual disability are staffed around the country at just 25% of recommended levels, startling new HSE data shows.

The teams are part of the child and adolescent mental health services (Camhs), which has openly struggled with recruitment to match rising demand in recent years.

Separate information reveals a 2023 look-back review of 300 children’s mental health care in North Kerry is still not ready for publication, more than two years since it began.

In relation to South Kerry, the Maskey review, led by Seán Maskey, found in 2022 that hundreds of children attending Camhs were overprescribed medication and received substandard treatment.

Children in South Kerry continue to struggle with the fallout, with one father telling the Irish Examiner that "our children are shutting down” in the years since.

Maurice O’Connell said it feels as though the government and HSE are “throwing money at people, then once that’s done, their hands are clean".

In relation to Camhs' intellectual disability teams (Camhs ID), the HSE said hiring is so challenging that the northwest of Ireland does not have a team.

Nationally, Camhs ID teams are resourced at approximately 25% of the recommendations for staffing, it said. 

Each team should have 11 staff. However, separate data from HSE Southwest showed the Cork team has only seven people. The Kerry team has three, including two working part-time and one on a pro-rata basis.

The HSE Midwest region covering Limerick, Clare, and north Tipperary has one team with five staff, it said.

The national data was released to Sinn Féin spokesman for disability, Ruairí Ó Murchú. He warned: 

There has been much commentary in relation to Camhs, and the frightening aspect of the figures is the number of positions unfilled. 

“The capacity of the service to deliver is impacted.” 

He cautioned that even these figures may not give the full picture, noting health unions' disputes with the HSE on workforce figures and recruitment processes.

He called for further analysis of why it is so challenging to recruit into these vital services.

Hiring embargo and recruitment challenges

In a letter released with the national data, the HSE Mental Health Services said: “The recruitment embargo in 2024, coupled with ongoing recruitment challenges, not only faced by Camhs, but across the health sector as a whole, saw the number of staff fall in 2024.” 

Paul Braham, senior operations manager, stressed that new funding is changing that picture.

Some 99 roles were funded in the HSE service plan 2024.

A dedicated Camhs recruitment campaign in Ireland and abroad saw 58 start work by mid-September this year. A further 15 are in the final stages of hiring, and 26 have started the process.

Recruitment continues for 27 roles funded through the service plan for this year.

HSE Southwest said that, in relation to North Kerry, all families and young people affected by the look-back review have been informed of individual findings. Work continues on recommendations.

“We sincerely regret that this review process has taken longer than we initially hoped, and we apologise to the young people involved and their families,” it said.

Fianna Fáil TD for Kerry, Michael Cahill, has repeatedly raised these delays in the Dáil. He has called on the Government to “urgently publish” the report.

A spokeswoman for minister of state for mental health, Mary Butler, said she is aware of the families’ frustrations.

She has been told by the HSE that the final recommendations “will be made available as soon as possible” following due diligence.

Mental health funding was announced in Budget 2026, including recruitment money to ensure an additional 300 whole-time-equivalent staff could be hired in mental health services.