An Athlone mother believes the country is on its knees when it comes to services for children with additional needs.
During a discussion in the Seanad on Thursday Claire Early shared her daughter Sophia's efforts in trying to get an ADHD diagnoses.
The local parent stated she was referred to the child and adolescent mental health service in august but it January she received notification that there was no clear indication of ADHD
Claire says she received this decision without her daughter being seen by a psychiatrist.
In response to local TD Michael Fitzmaurice in the Dail yesterday the Tánaiste acknowledged recruitment and retention issues was causing delays and issues within the sector.
Speaking to Shannonside FM she called on the HSE to provide adequate services for children.
"A diagnosis is supposed to bring supports. Without a diagnosis you can't get the support you need for that particular problem. ADHD is a mental health problem so you need a psychologist to diagnose. We need to fill the vacant places in the system for therapists, for doctors, we need to fill them. If there's not enough people coming from college to fill these jobs, then we need to recruit from overseas".
