Mr. Paul Gilligan:

I would like first to deal with the question asked by Senator Devine. One of the things that the independent sector can do that perhaps the statutory sector cannot is engage in different projects and fund things that may be difficult to fund. One of the biggest issues for young people is stigma. Presenting to a mental health service is very difficult. It is something we have not talked about today. There are many initiatives but St. Patrick's Mental Health Services has been able to develop initiatives, some directly focused on anti-stigma, one called Walk In My Shoes and another called #MindYourSelfie, all appealing to the technology savvy generation. The Senator spoke a little bit about Mission Possible, which is a school-based initiative that has been very successful. It is very important to acknowledge that if we can deal with stigma and address awareness, we will increase the number of people who seek help earlier.

The second question was asked by Senator Freeman. Historically, there has been a disconnect between the independent private sector and the statutory sector. A Vision for Change did not envisage a role for the independent sector. While that has changed significantly in the past ten years, there is much more work to be done on that. At the moment there are many examples of co-operative work and working together, but it is not strategically planned and it tends to be demand-led. We would like to see a shift in that. If there is one thing I wish to emphasise it is that in the report it would be important to write in a role for and place an obligation on the independent private sector because we are up for this. We believe we must all work together - the voluntary sector, the independent sector and the statutory sector - to address what is a very serious problem.

I will finish by asking my colleague, Ms Gogarty to just give one example. It will be very brief.