There are 1,706 young people aged 17 or under waiting for psychological treatment in Waterford and Wexford. 443 of those have been waiting for more than six months
In this statistic, Waterford/Wexford is one of the worst performing subregions in the Country with only North Dublin, Cork and Galway/Roscommon having greater numbers awaiting treatment.
In the South East Health Region, Dublin South and Wicklow have less than half this figure with 760 young people awaiting treatment.
These figures emerged in reply to a Parliamentary Question by Sinn Féin Waterford TD David Cullinane, who asked for the numbers on waiting lists for community care services.
According to a HSE statement in 2025, the Enhanced Community Care programme is a key pillar of Sláintecare, which looks to provide specialist care in community settings, bringing services closer to homes and reducing hospital admissions.
Addressing these figures, TD Cullinane says the community care system is in crisis.
“These figures show the scale of the crisis in community care. There are 90,003 people waiting for physiotherapy assessment and more than 60,000 waiting for a first occupational therapy assessment,” he said.
“Children are being badly failed. More than 17,000 children have waited over a year for an occupational therapy assessment, while 1,647 children have been waiting more than two years for an initial speech and language therapy assessment.
“There are also huge regional and county differences. In Waterford Wexford, 13,309 people are waiting for physiotherapy and more than 8,400 have been waiting over a year.
“This is on top of the near one million people on acute hospital waiting lists and runs completely contrary to the Sláintecare commitment to move more care into the community.
“Sinn Féin has set out a clear alternative – recruit more therapists, nurses and other community staff, expand multidisciplinary teams and training places, target additional resources at areas with the longest waits and use short-term additional capacity to clear backlogs while public services are built up.”
TD Cullinane also says that these figures should be public knowledge.
“I have also published legislation to require community waiting lists to be published regularly by the NTPF. We need transparency, but above all we need the staff and capacity to ensure people get the care they need much sooner and closer to home.”
JIGSAW WATERFORD
As Minister with responsibility for Mental Health, TD Mary Butler spoke to The Munster Express about the 1,700 children between Waterford and Wexford waiting for psychological treatment.
“These waiting times are not acceptable,” she said. “While I understand that primary care services are dealing with increased levels of need, we know that if young people cannot access support when they need it, difficulties can escalate and may ultimately require the intervention of the specialist mental health services that fall under my remit as Minister for Mental Health.
“Reducing waiting times for children and families must remain a priority. I fully support Minister Carroll MacNeill’s work to address long wait times through the Primary Care Child Psychology Wait List Initiative,” Minister Butler said.
“So far this year, over 2,500 young people have accessed support through this initiative which has been funded by an investment of €4.75m by Government. I am also working closely with the Minister for Health to progress the Programme for Government commitment to develop a new model for HSE Primary Care Psychology to expedite services for young people with less complex issues.”
Minister Butler also pointed towards Jigsaw Waterford, a new service which offers free mental support to anyone aged 15-25. Although Jigsaw will not address all the issues of young people waiting for psychological treatment, it is undoubtedly a Welcome addition to Waterford’s mental health support services.
“I was very pleased to hear that Jigsaw Waterford held its first appointment with a young person this week,” she said. “This new service, funded through €1 million in recurring funding that I secured in Budget 2026 is an important additional source of support for young people with mild to moderate mental health issues across the county.
“I would encourage any family with a young person aged 12 to 25 who is waiting for primary care psychology support for mental health reasons to visit Jigsaw.ie/Waterford,” Minister Butler said.
“Families and young people can also avail of the new free counselling supports now available through St Brigid’s Family Resource Centre which I announced last month.
“The most important thing is that young people get the support they need as early as possible.” Minister Butler added.
AARON KENT Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
