Number Of Children Prescribed Psychiatric Medication Increased 500% Over Last Decade

The number of children who've been prescribed psychiatric medication has increased by nearly 500 per cent over the past decade.

In 2009, 1,150 people under the age of 15 were prescribed these medicines under the medical card scheme.

But this rose to just under 6,500 children last year, according to details released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Brendan Kelly, Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin, says a recruitment crisis in the HSE is a factor in the trend.

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