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

I thank all of the witnesses for their contributions and submissions. I apologise for missing some of the oral presentations but I had the opportunity to read all of them beforehand. I have a few general questions and a few key ones. It is very clear, and we all acknowledge, that there is a crisis both in our mental health as a nation and in the mental health services available to those who are in crisis. We all agree that there is a necessity to promote positive mental health among everybody. As Chair of the Joint Committee on Education and Skills, one of the first tasks which members of the committee, including myself and Deputy Catherine Martin, undertook was to make very clear recommendations on promoting positive mental health both in formal and informal education. We are awaiting responses from the Minister in that regard. I commend the work the organisations have done. It is excellent. I also want to put on the record that we have some excellent community organisations which deliver really good responses on the ground, particularly Hope(d) in my own constituency of Kildare South. It is a totally voluntary organisation which does not get any State funding. The work it does to help support young people in need in particular is incredible.

To move onto the specifics, the funding situation the witnesses have outlined is incredible. To think that in 1960 Ireland allocated 23% of the total health budget to mental health and that we now allocate 6.4% is absolutely shocking. As the witnesses have noted, we have recommended that allocation be raised to 12%, which is the standard recommended by the World Health Organization. We completely agree with that. Children comprise 23% of our citizens. We all acknowledge the levels of stress they are under and, very sadly, the levels of youth suicide. I believe we have the seventh highest rate in Europe. What interventions do the witnesses believe are most successful in promoting resilience in young people? That is what we are all about. This is about helping our young people to develop resilience and to develop the coping skills they need.

We have discussed CAMHS before. Speaking for many public representatives, very sadly we hear very negative anecdotal reports about CAMHS which is available when people can actually get into it. We absolutely need to eliminate the delay caused by the requirement for a GP referral before a person is referred to Jigsaw. That seems to be unduly time consuming. How can we improve interagency co-operation? I acknowledge that we did have explanations from the HSE in respect of the difficulties in recruiting appropriate personnel to deal with this area. That is part of the problem.

What interventions are most successful in combatting anxiety among all age groups? As I said already, that has been increasing. As a Deputy with many rural constituents I am always concerned by the lack of services available in rural areas because many of our younger people do not have access to public transport in order to be able to get to a place where they can get help. Obviously that is also the case for older and vulnerable members of the population. We have to ensure that those who need timely access to support get it.

I would like to ask Dr. Duffy why the GP referral rate to Jigsaw is so low. GP referrals make up only 10% of its referrals. Obviously it makes referrals to GPs, but there does not seem to be referrals in the reverse direction. Speaking locally, the nearest Jigsaw hub to Kildare is in Tullamore, which is obviously not feasible for Kildare residents to access. We have the fastest growing percentage of young people in the country. Is there any hope that we could have one in Kildare? It would be really good. Obviously it would be good for every county.

On another general question, how do we make our primary mental healthcare supports more holistic? It is very important that everybody feels they have access to it. We acknowledge that recruitment and retention rates remain a huge issue in this sector. How can we encourage young people to enter this field and to feel that they have a contribution to make? Again I would like Jigsaw to expand on how allied health training courses can facilitate a better transition. Will Dr. Duffy advise further on the progress Jigsaw has made on e-mental health? This would be of massive help to that rural-dwelling population and to young people who are, perhaps, more comfortable using technology than having face-to-face interventions.