Ms Julie Helen:

One of the biggest things that will change things for young people is inter-agency working because so much else will flow from that. We heard this morning from others, very strongly, about how their children were falling through the cracks. They were falling between the stools at different stages along the way, and much of the time, unnecessary extra mental health difficulties followed on from that. We heard from Ms Lauren Keogh, who told us about her daughter, Zara, who unnecessarily experienced anorexia because she was waiting for mental health services.

We heard from Lauren Keogh. She told us about her daughter, Zara, who experienced anorexia unnecessarily because she was waiting for mental health services. Similarly, many of the case studies I detailed in my opening remarks relate to self-harm and talking about suicide. However, those issues started far earlier in the life of that child or young person. If we had more inter-agency working and joined-up thinking, as we discussed this morning, our children and young people would be far better able to become self-advocates and peer advocates. Everyone would be working together and our children and young people would know that they are important, that the system is in place for them and that they can speak up for themselves and for each other. The ultimate goal in advocacy is to speak up for ourselves and for each other. It is true that we are all sitting here as advocates for other people, but the ultimate aim is that people can speak up for themselves. Many things will aid that and flow from that. Accessible information will help people to be self-advocates and to look after their mental health. That is what we should all be aiming for as citizens in Ireland.