Dr. Shari McDaid:

I thank the Senators and Deputies for expressing their support, particularly Senator van Turnhout and Deputy Ó Caoláin. As of today, more than 17,000 people in Ireland have signed a petition supporting investment in mental health services, which is an indication that there is widespread recognition of the need for support. In addition, people want to have good quality mental health services available.

Deputy Ó Caoláin asked about the director for mental health. We have consistently advocated for the appointment of a director for mental health and we are pleased to see somebody taking up that role. We have met with him and are impressed with his commitment to continue the reform agenda. However, we are concerned. Anybody in that role must have control of the budget, adequate resourcing and an information system that can enable them to manage the system effectively. It is very difficult for somebody in that role at present to be able to manage effectively when they do not know how many people use the services, how many staff there are in the services and where they are, and what the waiting lists are for adult mental health services. We have none of that information, so that is a real priority.

We also seek an implementation plan that would assist with transparency. We used to have an independent monitoring group for the mental health policy, A Vision for Change. There is no longer an independent monitoring group and no annual report to tell us how well the HSE and other Departments are doing on delivering the policy. The child and adolescent mental health services already have an annual report and it would be helpful to have something similar for the other mental health services and the policy as a whole.