Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the three speakers for their interesting contributions today but also in terms of the overall work of the committee. I have three questions. First, I would like to focus on a sentence in Mr. Gilligan's statement in which he states, "The exact services to which people should be entitled to access should be set out in law so that it is clear to both service providers and service users that legal obligations exist". That is an interesting and important statement. It seems to me that it is not possible to do that unless services are free at the point of use. Otherwise, people will have an entitlement but they will not have the wherewithal in their pocket to follow through on the entitlement. I do not see how that can be done without having a health service that is free at the point of use. I would like the witnesses to comment on that. It seems to me that such an approach is very much in sync with the idea of a national health service-type model for a health service. I ask the witnesses to comment on that. If we had such a system, the witnesses might comment on how they would see St. Patrick's mental health services fitting in or its relationship as part of that.

Second, Mr. Maher made interesting points about overall health spend. It is ironic that at a time when consciousness in society about the importance of good mental health and mental health services is probably at a higher level than ever before, although there is still a long way to go, the percentage of health spend is at an all-time low or close to it. To be blunt, the expectations of ordinary people are in conflict with what the political establishment has put in place, but we know that. What I would like to learn from the witnesses is the position on the ground on a day-to-day basis. What does that mean in terms of the type of services they would like to provide, and that should be provided, and the type of services that exist for people with mental health challenges? What kind of problems is that low spend causing?

The last question is on the relationship of pharmaceutical companies with the health services in general on which the witnesses might comment. For example, The Sunday Business Postrecently reported that the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland has banned donations from pharmaceutical companies because of evidence that it influences prescribing. This position was also endorsed by Dr. John Hillery, who is governor of St. Patrick's. My question is whether it has been adopted by St. Patrick's and by all medical staff who work in the hospital.