Health Services
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-18
============================================================

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (FF), Carlow-Kilkenny

I thank the Senator again for highlighting this issue with my own neighbours of Laois. The Department, Minister of State, Deputy Butler, and the HSE acknowledge there are issues with wait times and access to services. The demand for adult ADHD services has been significantly higher than originally predicted, so they are seeing much more than they had thought.
We are now working to embed a tiered approach to services to efficiently tackle demand and improve access to services to better meet the needs of the service users. The HSE has prepared a draft amended model of care, incorporating this step care approach which is informed by engagement with the service users, families, clinicians and ADHD Ireland. This service model of care is currently under review through the establishment of the HSE governance process and will guide the next phase of services development nationally. I will get the Senator more information on that.
It has been deployed already by the new ADHD team based in Monaghan, acting as a pilot. That team is reporting shorter waiting times and improved management of demand. Enhancing specialist mental health services, such as ADHD, remains a key priority for the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, the Government and the HSE. Again, I thank the Senator for bringing this important issue forward. I will get her that information she is looking for.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:44+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-18