Adult ADHD assessment in Ireland: how it works and what it costs
The public route is free and slow. The private route is quick and costs several hundred euro. The assessment itself should look the same either way.
An adult ADHD assessment in Ireland starts with a GP referral. On the public route the GP refers you to your local adult Community Mental Health Team, which treats any other significant mental illness first and then refers on to a HSE Adult ADHD team, where a psychiatrist trained in ADHD carries out the assessment. Privately, you book a consultant psychiatrist or a psychologist-led clinic directly, at roughly EUR 600 to 1,600. Either way, the diagnosis rests on a structured interview and a developmental history, never on a questionnaire alone.
HSE National Clinical Programme
The HSE route: what the pathway looks like
Ireland has had a National Clinical Programme for ADHD in Adults since 2021. It is free, and it does not yet cover every county.
The pathway is deliberately indirect. Your GP does not refer you to an ADHD clinic. The referral goes to the adult Community Mental Health Team for your area. That team's job is to check for, and treat, any other significant condition first: depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, psychosis. Only then does the team refer you onward to the specialist Adult ADHD team, where a consultant psychiatrist with specific ADHD training leads a multidisciplinary assessment.
That ordering has a clinical reason. Untreated depression or anxiety mimics ADHD. In the pathway evaluation published in 2025 (using 2023 data from three pilot teams), 25% of people referred for ADHD needed treatment for another condition first.
- Coverage: teams exist in named catchments such as Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal; Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary; Dún Laoghaire, south-east Dublin and Wicklow; and Cork. Not every county has one yet.
- Demand: the same evaluation found the pilot teams receiving three to four times more referrals than they could assess.
- Local pauses happen: in October 2024 the HSE stopped taking new ADHD referrals in Cork and Kerry. Ask your GP about your area today.
Sources: ISHA summary of the HSE programme, Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine pathway evaluation (2025) and the Irish Examiner, 11 October 2024. Accessed 7 September 2026.
What the evidence shows
How long is the wait?
The HSE does not publish a national waiting-time figure for adult ADHD.
What is documented: when Cork and Kerry paused referrals in October 2024, the Irish Examiner reported 413 people waiting in Cork city and north Cork and 217 in Kerry and west Cork, with teams staffed at 4.5 posts against the 6 required. Private clinics on the first page of Google for this search advertise waits of a week or two. Before paying for that speed, read the next two sections. A fast assessment your GP will not act on solves nothing.
Cost and what to check
Private ADHD assessment in Ireland: cost and questions to ask
ADHD Ireland puts private assessments at EUR 600 to 1,600. Where you land in that range depends mostly on who does the assessing.
- Consultant psychiatrist: can diagnose and prescribe. Usually the upper part of the range, and often the only route that leads smoothly to medication.
- Psychologist-led assessment: can diagnose, cannot prescribe. If you later want medication, a psychiatrist may need to review or repeat the assessment.
- Multidisciplinary clinic: a mix of the two, sometimes at a lower price. Check who signs the final report.
Ask three questions before booking. Will a consultant psychiatrist sign the report? If medication is recommended, who prescribes it, and for how long before it is handed to my GP? And has my GP agreed to take over? A clinic that cannot arrange a handover leaves you paying for every repeat review. Keep receipts, and check the current Revenue rules on medical-expense relief yourself rather than relying on a clinic's claim.
NICE NG87 standard
What a proper adult ADHD assessment involves
Irish services work to the NICE guideline. It says the diagnosis must be made by a specialist and must not rest on rating scales alone.
Expect a long appointment, or two. The clinician takes a full psychiatric and developmental history back to childhood, because symptoms must have been present early, and will want an informant where possible: a parent, partner or old school reports. They check impairment in more than one setting. Structured interviews such as the DIVA and rating scales are used inside that process; NICE says the diagnosis must not rest on rating scales alone. The free ASRS questionnaire you may have done was designed by a WHO work group as a screener, so a positive result is a reason to seek assessment, nothing more.
NICE NG87, recommendations 1.3.1 and 1.7.1; BJPsych Bulletin, Adult ADHD in the Republic of Ireland.
Who prescribes
Medication: who can start it and who continues it
Under NICE, ADHD medication is only started by a professional with training and expertise in diagnosing and managing ADHD. In the HSE programme that is the consultant-led ADHD team.
The HSE model of care then hands prescribing and physical monitoring back to the GP or local mental health team, with annual recall to the ADHD clinic. A GP also helps before any of this: ruling out sleep problems, thyroid disease or anaemia, treating low mood, and writing the referral letter. A mental health consultation with a Global Health GP can cover that first conversation, and a psychiatry consultation is available where a specialist opinion is needed. Neither replaces a specialist ADHD assessment, and a single consultation cannot produce an ADHD diagnosis or a stimulant prescription.
Global Health Ireland
Where to start
A GP can rule out look-alike conditions and refer you. The assessment itself is specialist work.
- Mental health consultation
- Psychiatry specialist consultation
- When to see a GP online vs in person
- Doctors in Ireland
- Contact Global Health
Want to talk it through with a GP first?
A GP consultation can assess your symptoms, check for other causes and prepare a referral. It is not an ADHD diagnosis.
Sources
Sources for this guide
Clinical standards from NICE; Irish service facts from peer-reviewed evaluations and the HSE programme. All checked 7 September 2026.
Service coverage and waiting positions change. Confirm the current situation with your GP or local mental health team.
Frequently asked questions
Adult ADHD assessment in Ireland
Can a GP diagnose ADHD in Ireland?
No. A GP assesses, excludes other causes and refers, and may continue prescribing after a specialist stabilises treatment. The diagnosis is made by a psychiatrist or, privately, a psychologist.
Is a psychologist's ADHD diagnosis enough to get medication?
Not on its own. Only a doctor can prescribe, and a psychiatrist will usually want to review or repeat the assessment before starting medication.
How much does a private ADHD assessment cost in Ireland?
ADHD Ireland gives a range of about EUR 600 to 1,600. Consultant-psychiatrist assessments sit towards the top; psychologist-led ones lower. Ask what is included and who signs the report.
Does a positive ASRS score mean I have ADHD?
No. The ASRS is a screening tool. A positive score is a reason to seek an assessment, not a diagnosis.
