Submission to the Seanad Public Consultation Committee on Children’s Mental Health in Ireland

Submission to the Seanad Public Consultation Committee

The Children’s Rights Alliance is deeply concerned about the provision of mental health services to
children and young people in Ireland. Recent studies suggest that young people in Ireland may have a
higher rate of mental health issues than similarly aged young people in other countries. This has not
resulted in a correlated level of service provision.

All children have a right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental
health under Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The UN Committee on the
Rights of the Child has emphasised the serious nature of mental health problems for children and the
need to tackle ‘behavioural and social issues that undermine children’s mental health, psychosocial
wellbeing and emotional development’.