Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The app is an excellent idea. I have a question about the stigmatisation associated with mental health issues. Do young people shy away from other young people with mental health issues? If somebody has a mental health issue, do people say, "Oh my God, we don't hang around with that person" or "That person has something wrong with them"? It seems to be a significant problem in this country. Two years ago, in an anonymous survey of all Members of the Oireachtas, which was not specifically about the issue of adopting or having children, more than 50% of people surveyed replied that someone in the Oireachtas with a mental health issue should not have children. Is that not unbelievable? It showed us how stigmatisation is a serious issue. How can the Oireachtas and the Legislature help Comhairle na nÓg in its efforts to destigmatise mental health issues so that having a mental health issue would be regarded as being as commonplace as having a cold?