Articles · Consultant-led ADHD care across Ireland
Adult ADHD in Ireland: Guides & Answers
Plain-language guides from a consultant psychiatrist for adults in Ireland who suspect ADHD might explain what they have been living with.
If you have spent years being called careless, forgetful or lazy, and none of it ever matched how hard you were actually trying, this is the place to start.
Adult ADHD was, for a long time, treated in Irish psychiatry as a childhood condition. The HSE National Clinical Programme for Adult ADHD changed that, but public services remain under-resourced: waiting lists for adult ADHD assessment exceed two to four years in many HSE areas, and access is harder again outside the cities. That is the picture set out in a 2024 review in the BJPsych Bulletin, “Adult ADHD in the Republic of Ireland: the evolving response”, whose first author, Dr Shaeraine Raaj, Consultant Psychiatrist, founded MindBridge Medical in 2025 to close the gap it describes.
These guides are written by the MindBridge clinical team. They cover why ADHD is so often missed in women, what the research says about adult ADHD services in Ireland, how online assessment with a consultant psychiatrist works, why the clinic exists, and the exercise, nutrition and daily strategies that support treatment.
Not sure whether ADHD is even the right question? Take the free two-minute ADHD self-check. Already fairly sure and want to know what assessment and treatment involve? See our services and fees. Everything is done by secure video call across the Republic of Ireland, with no referral and no waiting list.
Understanding ADHD
For anyone still working out how ADHD shows up in adults, why it hides for decades, and where Irish services stand today.
Women & ADHD
ADHD in Females: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Why It Is Often Missed
Why diagnostic models built around boys left girls and women unrecognised, the inattentive and emotional symptoms that get mistaken for anxiety or stress, and why many women are only diagnosed as adults.
Read the guide →The research
Adult ADHD in Ireland: The Evolving Response and the Role of Telepsychiatry
Dr Raaj's BJPsych Bulletin paper in plain language: the HSE clinical programme, waiting lists of two to four years, the rural postcode lottery, and why telepsychiatry is now part of the answer.
Read the guide →Public pathway
Adult ADHD Services in Ireland: Where Things Stand
Here's how the public ADHD pathway in Ireland actually works — the GP referral step, what the HSE adult ADHD service covers, and how a private assessment fits alongside it.
Read the guide →Getting assessed
What online assessment with a consultant psychiatrist involves, why the clinic was built the way it was, and what it costs.
Online assessment
Bringing Psychiatry Online: The Rise of Telepsychiatry in Ireland
How secure video consultations opened specialist care to people outside the cities, why rapport and diagnostic accuracy hold up on screen, and how psychiatry, psychology and counselling work together on one platform.
Read the guide →Assessment validity
Is an Online ADHD Assessment Valid in Ireland?
The Irish Medical Council recognises telemedicine. What actually makes an ADHD assessment valid in Ireland — and how to check the clinician is real.
Read the guide →Why we exist
The Story of How MindBridge Medical Began
From a late-night literature review on ADHD referral pathways to a clinic launched in 2025: self-booking, evening and weekend appointments, and care aligned with the HSE model of care for adults with ADHD.
Read the story →Our assessment
Adult ADHD assessment & treatment at MindBridge
Screening questionnaires, a 90-minute DIVA-5 video assessment and a results consultation with a consultant psychiatrist. €950 all-inclusive, no referral, no waiting list.
About the assessment →How it works
From booking to treatment plan in two video appointments
Every step and its timing: the two pre-screening forms, the structured assessment, the GP cardiovascular check and the prescription by HealthMail.
See how it works →The cost
What an ADHD Assessment Costs in Ireland
MindBridge's own €950 ADHD assessment fee, itemised: what's included, what a first year can add up to, and what to ask any clinic.
Read the guide →Transfer of care
Diagnosed with ADHD in the UK, Now Living in Ireland
What actually happens to a UK ADHD diagnosis and prescription once you move to Ireland, and what a transfer-of-care review covers.
Read the guide →DARE evidence
What Evidence Does DARE Accept for ADHD?
What a DARE application generally needs to show for ADHD, why timing matters, and where to check this year's exact rules.
Read the guide →Living and working with ADHD
For the everyday reality: energy, focus, sleep and the habits that make treatment work better.
Lifestyle
The ADHD Wellness Toolkit: Exercise, Nutrition and Daily Strategies
Which kinds of exercise support attention and motivation, why protein at breakfast matters, what the evidence does not support, and how lifestyle measures fit alongside medication rather than replacing it.
Read the guide →Therapy
CBT group for ADHD, six weeks online
A six-week online group with a chartered psychologist for the practical side of ADHD: planning, procrastination, emotional regulation and routines. €350; next cohort starts 25 February 2027.
About the CBT group →Ready for an answer rather than another article?
Two minutes for the self-check. One structured assessment for a diagnosis you can act on.
Does Health Insurance Cover an ADHD Assessment?
What to check on your VHI or Laya policy before an ADHD assessment, and how to claim back what your plan allows.
Look at your policy schedule for a moment. Does it mention "outpatient psychiatric assessment" or "outpatient mental health" cover, and if so, what limit sits next to it? That single line is usually the answer to whether an ADHD assessment is covered, and most people have never checked it.
By Dr Shaeraine Raaj, MRCPsych, Consultant Psychiatrist. Last reviewed: 20 October 2026.
Where would ADHD assessment cover appear on a policy?
An ADHD assessment is a psychiatric outpatient appointment, so if your plan covers anything here, it is most likely to appear under a benefit called something like "outpatient psychiatric assessment", "outpatient mental health cover" or "consultant fees, outpatient". Whether a specific policy includes this benefit, and at what limit, depends entirely on the plan — there is no single rule that applies to every VHI or Laya policy. We do not know the specific benefit levels of any individual plan, and would never guess one on your behalf.
Does VHI or Laya cover an ADHD assessment?
Laya Healthcare and VHI both recognise MindBridge's clinicians — Dr Shaeraine Raaj, Dr Matthew MacGillivray and Dr Jean McCabe — but whether your specific policy covers an ADHD assessment depends on your plan, not on which insurer you are with in general. Two people with the same insurer, on different plans, can have very different outpatient mental health cover. The only reliable way to know is to check your own policy document or call your insurer directly.
What should you ask your insurer before booking?
Call your insurer and ask specifically:
Does my plan include outpatient psychiatric assessment or outpatient mental health cover, and if so, what is the annual limit?
Is a private psychiatric assessment for ADHD eligible under that benefit, or only certain types of appointment?
Do I need pre-approval, or can I claim after the appointment with a receipt?
What information does the receipt need to include for my claim to be processed?
Naming the type of appointment clearly — a private psychiatric assessment, consultant-led, by video — when you call tends to get a clearer answer than asking a general question about "ADHD cover".
How do you claim back an ADHD assessment on insurance?
MindBridge issues an itemised receipt for every assessment, showing the fee breakdown and Dr Raaj's Irish Medical Council registration number, which is the kind of documentation an insurer typically asks for when processing an outpatient claim. You submit that receipt to your insurer through their normal claims process — by app, post or online portal, depending on the insurer — and how much comes back, if anything, is decided by your plan's own outpatient limit, not by MindBridge.
What if your policy does not cover it, or you are not insured?
If your policy has no outpatient psychiatric benefit, or you do not have private health insurance, MindBridge also offers Klarna: pay in 3 instalments via Stripe, arranged at /klarna, as a way to spread the €950 assessment fee. This is a separate, non-insurance option, not a replacement for checking what your policy allows.
If you know of a specific VHI or Laya plan that covers, or does not cover, an ADHD assessment from direct experience, that is useful information MindBridge does not currently hold on file — this page deliberately does not name specific plan tiers because none are confirmed.
Need help now? In an emergency call 999 or 112, or go to your nearest emergency department. Samaritans: call 116 123, free, 24 hours a day. Text About It: free-text HELLO to 50808, 24/7. More ways to get urgent help, on hse.ie
About this article
This article is general information. It is not medical or legal advice and it cannot tell you whether you have a condition. It does not replace an assessment by a qualified clinician, and reading it does not make you a patient of MindBridge Medical. Insurance cover depends entirely on your own policy; always confirm directly with your insurer before booking.
If you are worried about your health, speak to your GP or another registered clinician. In an emergency call 999 or 112, or go to your nearest emergency department.
Written by Dr Shaeraine Raaj, MRCPsych, Consultant Psychiatrist.
Medically reviewed by Dr Shaeraine Raaj, MRCPsych, Consultant Psychiatrist (Irish Medical Council 409852, Specialist Division). Reviewed 20 October 2026.
Last reviewed: 20 October 2026. How we review our content
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