Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. The witnesses from the Irish College of General Practitioners appeared before us last December so they already answered some questions for me on this issue. I have a number of questions for the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. I am on an education curve in relation to this issue. What are the top three challenges facing the association in terms of its interactions with the HSE and the system? Dr. Murphy referred in his contribution to a package that is tailored towards depression which involves a myriad of therapies. Perhaps he would elaborate on that package, including whether it would be in addition to the traditional cognitive behavioural therapy. Does the association have data on recruitment shortfall in psychotherapy in respect of current vacancies as opposed to new positions? Does the association agree that there is too much dependency on medication and are people being prescribed medication because of a shortage in therapies? I would also welcome the association's views on the proposal to designate counsellors as psychotherapists and on the use of recovery methods such as the creative arts and music therapy, which I am currently studying?

On Dr. O'Shea's reference to the use of social media to interact with young people, perhaps he would elaborate on that point. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs, at a meeting of which earlier this morning we discussed the dangers of social media for young people. I would be interested to hear from the ICGP how it believes it would benefit from social media interaction with young people.