A third of assessments for eating disorders in Ireland last year were among teenagers aged between 15 and 17.
Figures released by mental health minister Mary Butler reveal there were 600 assessments completed in 2025, with one in three being teenagers in their mid-teens. 78% of people assessed were under 25.
Some 534 people were diagnosed with an eating disorder, with anorexia nervosa being the most common, affecting 303 (56%) of those diagnosed.
There were 900 referrals received last year, with 300 that were not assessed by the end of the year.
Ms Butler provided the information in response to a parliamentary question by Fine Gael Tipperary South TD Michael Murphy.
In the same reply, she outlined that the roll out of the National Clinical Programme on Eating Disorders is “progressing well”, saying that the 16 teams set up under the programme’s model of care are now “fully funded”.
However, not all are in operation.
She said: “This includes 11 teams which are operational, a further three teams in recruitment and two teams in development.
“Approximately 110 dedicated eating disorder clinicians from the programme are now working on specialist teams across the country, treating people with eating disorders every day.”
In January 2018, the HSE published a five-year model of care for community eating disorders, with a plan to have the specialist teams in place by 2023. However, Ms Butler ordered a review in September 2024 following population growth and increased demand for services.
She said that 475 people were attending services provided by the teams at the end of 2025, and said there was a 13% increase in the number of people starting treatment for an eating disorder.
There are currently just three beds for inpatient treatment for eating disorders in Ireland. A review of bed capacity across all mental health facilities, including adult eating disorder inpatient facilities, has also taken place.
In her reply, Ms Butler said that 19 new public beds are projected to be added across three new regional inpatient centres for adults in the HSE Capital Plan between now and 2032. There will then be a total of 10 beds in Dublin, six in the southwest, and six in the northwest.
Last year, the Irish Examiner reported that since the launch of the National Clinical Programme for Eating Disorders in 2018, the HSE had spent more than €12.5m sending patients with eating disorders abroad for treatment. These included seven patients in 2023, at a cost of €4.6m.
In January, Paula Crotty told the Oireachtas Health Committee that her daughter, Jennifer, died almost three years ago from an eating disorder. She was 29 years old. She travelled to the UK for treatment in a dedicated unit in London.
Ms Crotty slammed the progress on the model of care implementation, saying: “Services exist on paper, but lived experience tells us otherwise. The HSE eating disorder model of care was introduced in 2018. Eight years later, demand has increased significantly, yet services remain incomplete, understaffed, and inaccessible.”
She added that there are 14 counties across the country without access to eating disorder services.
