Pádraig Ó Céidigh (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming to the committee. A number of Senators have been in the House for about one year and this is the most profound sitting I have attended. I extend a special thanks to Senator Joan Freeman for really opening our eyes. We need to shine a big light on this issue. A first cousin of mine committed suicide some years ago, but it still did not dawn on me well enough until Senator Freeman shared her experiences. The representatives present are warriors and they are great people. These Houses and this country has let them down, but with people such as Senator Freeman, however, and with the inspiration given by her and the others in the room today, please God it will not happen for much longer.

I have a couple of questions. Senator Kelleher had some very good and focused questions on where we should go from here. The representatives' views in this regard are very helpful. Moving on from here and following on from a comment by Senator Devine, where are the fathers and what are the roles of the fathers? I know that Louise's partner has passed away. I realised from this that something can be triggered in the mind. A person's mind is triggered and he or she goes off in a particular direction and into a deep hole. That person feels that no one can pull him or her out from the deep hole. That was a learning curve for me and it is very important. The role of fathers in all this is one aspect, other than in Louise's situation, understandably.

I was struck by how long people have been waiting for an assessment or the results of an assessment. People go for their assessments and then nothing happens. One part of the situation is that the system is badly broken, and the witnesses have suggested how we might look at repairing the system. The other part of the situation is that we do not have a system and there is no joined-up thinking whatsoever. I will get to my questions.