Sinn Féin MLA Órlaithí Flynn has said that children and young people across the island deserve much better access to mental services.

Órlaithí Flynn said:

“Today my colleague Mark Ward TD is bringing forward legislation in the Dáil to help improve Youth Mental Health services in the south.

“Thousands of children and young people right across this island are waiting, in some cases for years, on mental health waiting lists.

“There is a need for more all-island cooperation on mental health issues, and that is something that should be explored by ministers, north and south, to work together to ensure children have access to proper services. 

“Children deserve better mental health services and should not have to wait to access them.

“Here in the north we need to see the Minister for Health bring forward a plan to increase investment into Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, to improve care for our children and to help tackle waiting lists.”