Cavan Monaghan Fianna Fail TD, Deputy Niamh Smyth, told Northern Sound today that young people have been let down by mental health services in this country.
She was speaking after a new report into the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service CAMHS) unearthed "multiple failings" across the board.
Those failings include children on medication getting lost in the system as well as understaffing at centres. The report also highlighted how access for children to services has become a postcode lottery.
Deputy Smyth says that the parents of these children must not be forgotten in all of this because their frustrations and concerns for their child have become immense. "It has to be a very difficult thing for a parent to watch their child suffering with their mental health.
"They must feel so helpless and frustrated when they are trying to get the support for their child. Then, if the system is not there to respond and provide them with the support that they need, it must be a very dark place for parents to find themselves in," she added.
