Fianna Fáil says the mental health services will continue to struggle until the number of permanent psychiatric consultant positions increases.
The party recently received information from the HSE that shows that just 302 out of 456 psychiatrist posts are filled on a permanent basis.
Its Mental Health Spokesperson James Browne says the lack of permanent psychiatrists is restricting timely access to much needed services for patients:
“Ireland has a base line of only 6 psychiatric consultants to every 100,000 people which is about half the EU average.
"Out of those positions, there’s only 2 in every 3 posts are actually filled on a permanent basis.
The rest of the posts are either vacant or they’re filled on a temporary basis. This is deeply concerning. The lack of available psychiatrists leads too much longer waiting times for people to access the healthcare that they desperately need.”
