Dr. Shari McDaid:

I am conscious of the time. There were several questions on mental health and I will try to answer them as quickly as I can. Deputy Kelleher asked about the need for more information on all the activity in the mental health and associated areas. The Mental Health Commission is no longer reporting community mental health team staffing levels, although it used to do so. The HSE does not report this information either. In 2011 the Department of Health advised the incoming Minister for Health that efficiencies could be generated in the public mental health services through the development of a national mental health information system, as recommended in the document A Vision for Change. There has been no movement in this area. We have good information about child and adolescent mental health services and this is being reported annually. However, we have no equivalent comprehensive information about adult mental health services. We are calling for a modest investment in next year's budget to try to get at handle on what is happening in mental health services. In a wider sense the National Office for Suicide Prevention reports annually on the range of voluntary sector initiatives it supports in the area of suicide prevention.

Deputy Ó Caoláin rightly pointed out that we continue to be optimistic about the €35 million in this year's budget. We do not expect that €35 million will be spent this year but we remain hopeful for the promised staff to be appointed before the end of the year. We are calling for these staff to be appointed and for a commitment from the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Lynch, for a further tranche of money next year to cover additional staff, especially for the forensic services, services for intellectual disability and services for older people. By the end of this year we hope the staff will be in place as promised this year and that the additional staff promised for next year will be put in place as well.

I thank Deputy Byrne for her support on the issue of mental health generally. I am sorry to hear about the particular occasions of suicide that occurred of which she has become aware. We know that people with a diagnosis of a mental health difficulty are at a higher risk of taking their own life. Certainly, there is some link with depression. We know that the risk is very high in the first year when a person is diagnosed and begins treatment. The question of mental health staff being put under pressure and therefore being unable to provide the level of follow-up that would be considered best practice is a particular concern in terms of the potential impact on the risk of people taking their own life.

Deputy Regina Doherty raised the tragic case of Una Butler. She in turn has highlighted other cases where family members, including children, have lost their lives at the hand of another family member. We agree that families should be involved as much as possible in an individual's mental health case, subject to the permission of the individual concerned. We consider this to be good practice and it has been identified as good practice by the Mental Health Commission as part of its guidance and quality framework on the delivery of mental health services. We believe it is important that metal health services staff fully understand their obligations under child protection legislation and guidelines and that there may be a need for further education of mental health staff on their statutory and other obligations in respect of child protection.

Senator Colm Burke raised a broader issue on the role everyone can play in supporting positive mental health in Ireland. His comments call to mind a story that a person told me about her personal recovery from a mental health difficulty. The person said that one of the most important people to provide support to her in her mental health recovery was the local newsagent. Every week when she went in to the local newsagent store to pick up a newspaper or bottle of milk, the newsagent asked how she was and whether she wanted a cup of coffee. She said that person played a key role in her recovery. I fully agree that everyone has the potential to make a notable impact on positive mental health.