Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry I missed Mr. Kane's presentation - I got delayed on the way. This is personal to me. It is one of the reasons I am sitting here and giving up my time. I heard some commentary earlier. I believe two heads are better than one and that we should all work together to achieve a real common goal in this area.

Integration and streamlining of the services through cognitive behaviour therapy, wellness centres, the use of primary care centres and our outreach mental health services are important. We should be following the money to follow the patient. If we are to look at it, that is what we should be looking at. It is a matter of how the money follows the patient. That is one of the objectives I am keen to see.

Alcohol was referenced earlier. When we talk about alcohol, we need to consider services for alcohol and gambling addiction, especially how we are funding these services and the counsellors. Many counties, including Galway, do not have outreach for addiction services.

We talk about how we communicate. Mr. Kane has already mentioned Let's Talk. I would be looking at the mental health area with regard to Twitter, whereby people are sitting at home when they want to engage with people. These are positive things that people can do themselves. They can feel engaged and positive in how conversation is being had.

I agree completely with what Deputy Neville has said. Regrettably, not everyone plays GAA, so we need to look at the other therapeutic recovery options. I have in mind dance, yoga, drama and horse-riding. Sometimes, people who might have mental health issues might come from another area of disability. Therefore, their engagement and feeling of participation is most important. Yet again, money follows the patient.

A major part of this arises from how we empower our educators, whether the educators in education, parents or the person working with young people. Deputy O'Loughlin does not realise it but she created a new buzzword in my head, linked-in. It is a matter of how we can link in all these people and, again, how the money would follow into the school system or the various advocate groups that are promoting positive mental health outcomes.

The most important things we need to identify are the roadblocks and the gatekeepers of finance. Who is preventing this free-flow? If the funding is to be available and we know it needs to get to a particular goal, what is holding it up? That is where I am coming from with much of it.

When we talk about stories, we need to listen. Oisín McConville's story is a powerful one. He tells us that when he started in secondary school he had a gift. The way the educator looked upon him mattered. The suggestion was that he was there because of his gift and his talent at football rather than that he had any ability within his own way to perform in education.

It is a matter of how we speak and engage. Funding may have to go into education to re-train or bring in a particular model. This may be vital for people who are in roles of responsibility and who are moulding and shaping our young people. If we are starting from the beginning, that has to be brought into it as well.