Dr. Shari McDaid:

We have had the start of a programme. Last year there was the first roll-out of free counselling in primary care, for a maximum of eight sessions, for medical card holders only. If we estimate that there are 690,000 people in Ireland who suffer from anxiety and depression and we know that there were only 5,000 referrals to the service in the first six months of operation - perhaps 10,000 referrals in a year - we are nowhere near meeting the level of need identified. That service, or a similar service operated in the United Kingdom, is cost saving in terms of referrals to, or usage of, other health services and in returning people to work who would otherwise spend more time out of work on sick pay as a result of suffering from anxiety and depression and so forth. It is a simple argument.