Demands for a new youth mental health service to be expanded to the North West are unlikely to be met THIS year.
Mental heatlh advocates in the region have been calling for the Jissaw Service to be expanded to Sligo and Leitrim.
But this is unlikely to happen in the coming months, at least.
The demand for the expansion of the so-called Jigsaw Service to Sligo and Leitrim comes amid increasing complaints about mental health services and waiting times for children and teenagers in the region.
It’s as a campaign continues for more resources for the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, known as CAMHS.
Jigsaw is a network of projects across the country that helps communities support young people’s mental health and well-being.
Recently, after Taoiseach Enda Kenny met Sligo County Childcare Committee Manager Sharon Boles, he sent a note to the Minister of State for Mental Health Services Helen McEntee about the need for improved mental health services in the area.
Now, in a letter to Deputy McLoughlin, Minister McEntee says she fully appreciates local concerns in Sligo/Leitrim for a new Jigsaw service.
However, she says there have been similar requests nationally, adding that mental health service demands will have to be prioritised for 2018.
She also says she intends to look for more funding for mental health in the next budget.
And she says this would be on top of what she describes as the ‘significant funding’ she already got this year.
Deputy McLoughlin says he will be keeping the pressure on.
