Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 19 October 2017

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Future of Mental Health Care

Update on the Next Stages of the Review of A Vision for Change: Department of Health

9:00 am

Photo of Fiona O'LoughlinFiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My and Mr. Kane's paths crossed many years ago. It is good to see him still as committed as ever to doing what he can on a professional and personal basis to improve many lives around the country. In terms of the 48 reports, I actually went through many of them since our last meeting and there was nothing I could disagree with them in any of them. I thought all of the recommendations were excellent. Having said that, there was obviously a lot of repetition between them all, which is very understandable because, at the end of the day, we know what is wrong and what needs to be put in place to address it. I include in that comment the report the education committee published only two months ago about all the issues with young people. The question now is how we can get them all onto the same page in terms of implementation. Looking at the terms of reference for the oversight group, it is good that they are quite clear. There has to be a synergy between ourselves and the oversight group. I am interested in knowing a little bit more about points 4 and 5 in particular, in respect of the consultation process. The draft policy will set out the current and future service priorities.

Are there timelines for what the oversight group is working towards to produce that? I believe it is essential that we are part of the process.

It has been mentioned already, but I think creative ways of dealing with mental health, like the #LittleThings campaign, are important. I think it is a brilliant campaign and the more of these campaigns there are, the better. Campaigns that can be run at a local community base are especially important, like men's sheds and Joe.ie. They give a lifeline to people who need it. I imagine many of us have had experience of those and have been able to bear witness to the positive things that they have brought to people along the way.

Mr. Kane mentioned linking in with sports clubs. I think it is great that the GAA has committed to ensuring that there is a mental health officer in every club. This goes back to linking in with the community and it is a major part of the battle. It is about trying to intervene in a positive way as close as possible to where people who have issues are based.

One of the recommendations is about having people with experience of mental health difficulties involved. That is particularly important. Recently, I came across the network that had been set up by the HSE for mental health. I was impressed with it because several of those involved in the network were coming from that place. They had had experience of using the services and part of their mission was to help to identify the gaps. From what I gather, it is stronger in some regions than others. Perhaps Mr. Kane can fill us in on the detail.

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