Letters to the Editor: Waiting lists are failing children with disabilities

'Equally concerning is the clear inequity in provision. Variations in staffing across regions amount to a “postcode lottery” in care. A child’s access to support should never depend on where they live. Addressing this requires national staffing benchmarks, transparent reporting of workforce gaps, and targeted investment in recruitment, retention, and training.' File picture 

The recent Irish Examiner report on severe understaffing in children’s disability network teams (CDNTs) in East Cork should concern anyone committed to equitable healthcare for children.

A staffing ratio of just 1.49 clinicians per 1,000 children — the lowest in Cork — alongside unfilled posts and growing waiting lists, points to more than a local imbalance. It reflects a systemic failure to ensure timely access to evidence-based psychological care for children and young people across Ireland.

At the heart of this issue is workforce capacity. It is not simply the number of staff that matters, but the availability of appropriately trained clinicians. Evidence-based approaches such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) that is widely recommended internationally — including by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence — are frontline treatments for many child and adolescent mental health difficulties. Without sufficient numbers of trained practitioners, waiting lists grow, difficulties become more entrenched and outcomes worsen.

The consequences of delayed access are profound. Children waiting months or even years for assessment and intervention face increased risks of educational disruption, social isolation, and longer-term mental health problems.

Early intervention is not only clinically effective but also more cost-efficient, reducing the need for more intensive services later.

Equally concerning is the clear inequity in provision. Variations in staffing across regions amount to a “postcode lottery” in care. A child’s access to support should never depend on where they live. Addressing this requires national staffing benchmarks, transparent reporting of workforce gaps, and targeted investment in recruitment, retention, and training.

We support calls for a clear, time-bound workforce plan. This must include expanding accredited training pathways, recognising professional standards, and ensuring that evidence-based therapies are fully integrated into CDNTs and primary care services.

The situation in East Cork is not an isolated issue, it is a warning. Without sustained investment in a properly trained psychological workforce, children, and families will continue to bear the cost.

Anil Dawar, Press officer, British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies, Bury, England

Israel must be held to account on Gaza

EU vice president Kaja Kallas announced on April 20 that: “Rebuilding Gaza is estimated to cost at least $71bn. And we have been working four months with World Bank, the UN, and the European Union on this assessment.” 

Statements like this raise very important questions and issues, including whether the UN, EU, World Bank, and others will be expected to pay for the reconstruction of Gaza. Israel is still in the process of destroying Gaza and the Palestinian people. Why should the UN and the EU have to pay for the rebuilding of Gaza when Gaza has been destroyed by Israel with the active support of the US, UK, Germany, and the complicity of many others?

It is the responsibility of the ICJ and the ICC to hold Israel, and its leaders, to account for the genocide and crimes against humanity, including imposing financial reparations on Israel and the others who are supporting Israeli crimes. How much has the EU already spent on reconstruction after previous Israeli bombing attacks on Gaza, and what can be done to prevent Israel from destroying Gaza again in years to come? Nothing can bring back to life the Palestinians who have been killed and are still being killed. Genocide and crimes against humanity keep reoccurring because they are perceived to be successful.

Southern Lebanon is now being destroyed and its people killed because Israel has been granted impunity to continue committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It now feels free to do likewise in Lebanon.The US and Israel combined are now threatening to do to the people and infrastructure of Iran what they have succeeded in doing in Gaza. Humanity must not abandon the peoples of Palestine, Lebanon, and Iran. The proper rule of international and humanitarian laws must be re-established and all the perpetrators of crimes against humanity must be held to account.

Edward Horgan, Castletroy, Limerick

Building bridges

Construction proceeds apace on a commemorative pedestrian and cycle bridge over the Liffey connecting the National War Memorial Gardens to Chapelizod Rd. Under the direction of the Office of Public Works (OPW), it is expected to be completed by early 2027.

It is almost 40 years to the day, April 26, 1986, when the World’s greatest nuclear accident occurred in Chornobyl. Many people died and thousands were affected by the subsequent release of radioactive elements into the atmosphere. Here in Ireland Adi Roche set up an organisation called Chernobyl Children International, a humanitarian bridge so to speak, to help those affected. Since then, it is estimated that over €100m has been raised by her organisation in providing medical and humanitarian assistance to thousands of the victims of the disaster.

I would suggest that the new bridge could be named “The Adi Roche Chernobyl Children International Bridge”. It would show that one does not have to be a Dub, or dead, or male, to be recognised appropriately for work one does.

Bobby Carty, Templeogue, Dublin 6W

Let kids be kids

Here is something I wrote after being rather annoyed after my daughter’s training session, where we were spoken to rudely by a coach who rarely attends the coaching session, along with some other kids.

Do you remember what it is like to be eight years old?

Today some eight-year-old girls went to training after a long day at school.

They went to see their friends, to kick a ball, and have some fun.

They were late and a man they do not know was mean to them.

They did not intend to be late.

After training, they cried and asked their mothers who was this man? They are eight. He was not.

Some day, he may even be late and I hope the eight-year-old girls will smile and say hello to the man that they do not know.

Caroline Benson, Leamlara, Co Cork

Reducing number of uninsured cars

I fully concur with the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland in calling for continuous vehicle coverage (CVC) in order to help reduce the number of uninsured cars on the roads.

CVC is a regulatory framework requiring motor insurance to be active-based on vehicle ownership rather than just use. Under CVC, owners must maintain insurance on a vehicle unless it is formally declared off-the-road, aiming to eliminate gaps in coverage and reduce uninsured driving.

At the moment in Ireland, it’s not an offence to own an uninsured vehicle. It’s only an offence to drive it. That’s out of step with the system used in most of Europe.

It’s important to update the system in Ireland so as to ensure that all registered vehicles in Ireland are insured, unless (as earlier mentioned), they have been formally taken off the road.

Such a ruling would greatly assist gardaí, in that this would be administrative-led as opposed to it being policing-led.

We saw a real step change in 2024, when we had the Motors Insurance Database, which did bring the level of uninsured vehicles down to 6.7% in Ireland. But, based on recent research, that plateaued in 2025. It’s interesting to see how the percentages of uninsured drivers is lower in Europe when juxtaposed to Ireland’s uninsured drivers.

Ostensibly its average is 2.4% in the EU and 2.5% in Britain. The answer to this Irish imbroglio is continuous vehicle coverage. Other countries have it, we don’t.

John O’Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary

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