Dr. Brian Osborne:

I thank Deputy Harty for his questions. It is important to acknowledge that a huge proportion of mental illness can be managed purely with talk therapy. It is much more effective if it is delivered at an earlier stage. As Dr. O'Brien referred to, there are long waiting lists for counselling, primary care and psychology. There are restrictive practices in talk therapy, especially with regard to child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. As general practitioners, we can refer patients appropriately, when needed, to psychology and primary care. They are referred back to us and we are advised to refer to CAMHS, which then tells us to refer to primary care. The patient and his or her family is caught in the middle. It is frustrating for patients, families and GPs.