Keith Swanick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Lauren, Paula, Louise, Sinéad and Martina for their contributions. I fully agree with them that they are warriors. This is a fantastic initiative and I fully endorse this public consultation process.

My comments are made not only as a Senator and a general practitioner, GP, but, most importantly, as the dad of two young children. The overwhelming message I get from today's hearing is that all the witnesses' situations reached crisis before anything happened. That shows there is a fundamental flaw in the system. They should not have had to attend accident and emergency departments out of hours with their children, which is what they are - children. My heart goes out to them.

Something that frustrates me greatly working as a GP is that sometimes I am forced to refer vulnerable children to an accident and emergency department to access the services to save their lives. It is as important as referring someone with a heart attack or some other physical disability. That is frustrating. However, GPs do not do it lightly but out of necessity. That is one topic that illustrates a fundamental flaw in the system.

I agree there is an over-reliance on medication. Medication is not always the answer. It is part of the answer but we need to emphasise and concentrate our efforts on psychological support, be it cognitive behavioural therapy, CBT, or whatever. I refer to Zara and her therapeutic horse riding. Another important point is that as medics we rely too much on medication. I want that to be acknowledged.

My heart goes out to Louise and her eldest boy, a 17 year old who found himself in an adult mental health ward as a result of a severe reaction to the loss of his dad. It is a very sad story and disgraceful that he found himself in an adult mental health ward. It emphasises that it is imperative for all Senators to support Senator Freeman's Bill which will amend the current Mental Health Act to make it illegal for young people and children to be placed in adult mental health wards. I would be happy to support that Bill.

It is also worrying that, out of desperation, families are forced to seek private counselling and spend huge sums of money because they cannot access that service through the public health system. That is another example of a failing system.

We need to get away from this crisis management. Do the witnesses believe that more investment in community-based services in the primary care setting might help alleviate the situations they described, for example, providing all these services in primary care centres? We hear a lot of talk about primary care centres. I always say that primary care centres are not just about the bricks and mortar but the activity that happens within the centres. This is an open question and is not to anyone in particular. Do the witnesses believe that more investment in that sector could help prevent the crisis management we see taking place?