Over 1,300 children have been waiting for over four months for speech and language therapy across the Shannonside region.
According to freedom of information files, almost 300 of these young people
were left without an appointment for almost one year.
CHO area two which includes Roscommon recorded the highest figures locally with 1,054 waiting for their first therapy session.
A further 280 children were left on a list in CHO area 8 which includes Longford and Westmeath.
Over half of these children aged between one and seventeen did not receive an appointment for almost eight months.
CHO area one which includes Leitrim, Sligo, Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan recorded the lowest figures locally with just 35 on a waiting list as of February last.
East Galway GP Martin Daly is a former president of the Irish Medical Organisation, he believes these delays are having a big impact.
"Firstly, there is the worry and anxiety it causes parents and then it sets back their development. Not only are there issues around their educational development but there are also issues around them having physical problems because of their swallowing problems so there are considerable risk for children who are left for up to two years".
