Minister Mary Butler has today confirmed that the North Kerry CAMHS review, formally known as the Halpin Report, is to be published within the next week.
The independent review examined serious concerns regarding Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in North Kerry.
The review was commissioned in November 2024 and was completed in May 2025.
Findings of the North Kerry CAMHS review
The report involved a clinical review of approximately 300 files of young people who attended North Kerry CAMHS.
It has reportedly identified “deficits in care” in roughly 50% of the cases reviewed.
These deficits include concerns about governance, clinical oversight, prescribing practices, and medication monitoring.
Preliminary updates indicate that issues identified in the North Kerry CAMHS review mirror concerns previously raised in South Kerry.
Delay in publishing the North Kerry CAMHS review
The Government has stated that formal publication of the North Kerry CAMHS review was delayed to ensure the report was legally robust and to allow the HSE to inform affected families before its general release.
Kerry TD Pa Daly and Coleman Legal LLP, who represent a number of families, have publicly criticised the delay and called for publication without further postponement.
Lack of redress scheme for North Kerry families
The focus has shifted heavily toward the lack of a dedicated redress scheme for North Kerry families, sparking intense frustration.
Keith Rolls, Partner at Coleman Legal LLP, has stated that, in the absence of a State-established scheme, families have been required to initiate High Court medical negligence proceedings to obtain a resolution.
The families, represented largely by Coleman Legal LLP, are calling for Parity with South Kerry.
Families are demanding a redress scheme identical to the one established following the Maskey Report (South Kerry).
That scheme provided access to a non-adversarial mediation process to determine full compensation in accordance with High Court personal injury scales.
Compensation for deficits in care identified in the North Kerry CAMHS review
The families are calling for compensation not just for “significant harm” but also for the “deficits in care” (over-medication, poor monitoring, and misdiagnosis) that reportedly affected roughly 50% of the 300 files reviewed in North Kerry.
These reported deficits include over-medication, inadequate monitoring, and diagnostic concerns.
Key issues arising from the North Kerry CAMHS review
| Redress Scheme | Unlike the South Kerry (Maskey Report) victims, no dedicated compensation scheme has yet been opened for North Kerry families. |
| Legal Action | Due to the lack of a redress scheme to date, many families have now initiated proceedings in the High Court. |
| Systemic Failure | Preliminary updates suggest the report confirms that the issues in North Kerry mirror the “significant harm” found in the previous South Kerry scandal. |
Contact us
At Coleman Legal LLP, we have a team of highly qualified solicitors and legal executives with extensive experience in medical misdiagnosis, mismanagement of medication, and deficits in care.
We are available to speak to the parents of the affected children and patients from North Kerry CAMHS who are now 18 years of age or older and may have been impacted by the misdiagnosis on the part of this HSE employee.
