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

I thank the witnesses for their attendance and will first talk about Jigsaw. A year ago I visited the Jigsaw centre in Limerick. I was given an extensive tour and met the guys so I can attest to the fact that a fantastic services is being provided in Limerick. I spoke to the staff about rolling the initiative into rural areas in the form of pop-up clinics. Limerick is different, because the county is smaller relative to the size of Limerick city. Therefore, the city has a big influence on the county but the western and southern parts of the county do not have such affiliation. It is about trying to provide a service all over. Is there a timeline for rolling out the Jigsaw programme throughout the rest of the country? Will the scheme be rolled out on a phased basis? Is Jigsaw considering how to expand its existing 13 services into rural areas? If so, how does Jigsaw propose to set up in new counties?

Jigsaw provides a fantastic service. Jigsaw has produced a self-help or self-awareness book. On 12 April I attended the launch of an initiative called Read Your Mind at the Kilmallock Library in County Limerick. The initiative brings together an invaluable collection of 100 books that promote awareness about mental health and energises local school children and makes them aware of the literary resource. The people concerned with the project want to make it normal for such information to be available. I found the initiative quite helpful myself when I spent a couple of hours there. Does Jigsaw have a roadmap for rolling out projects? How has interaction been between the Department and Jigsaw? What is the budget and timeline?

Mr. Rogan, from Mental Health Ireland, mentioned the stigma and prejudice associated with mental health issues. Can he suggest ways to combat same, from his experience? Such negative beliefs are intergenerational and have been passed down from one generation to another. I agree with him that young people nowadays are more open about mental health issues than older generations, even including my generation. Perhaps that is because mental health is talked about more. This committee provides a forum to speak about the issue. Mr. Rogan also said that men are reluctant to seek help. Can he flesh out his views for the benefit of men who are watching these proceedings or may watch it in the future?

In terms of SpunOut.ie, Mr. Power mentioned that three quarters of all serious mental health difficulties start to present when a person is aged between 15 and 25. I am very much on par with his views on early intervention and working on same.

In terms of the debate on funding and deciding whether to direct funding to providing acute services or early intervention and which do we consider first, I believe we must concentrate on both aspects and alleviate the waiting list for acute services. I hope this committee will provide a blueprint on how to proceed. As time goes on one can take more funding from the acute services and move it to early intervention. As he said, one will not have the same volume of cases presenting and that will have a knock-on effect on the culture.

ICT has been mentioned. What are Mr. Power's thoughts on same? I will play devil's advocate and say that we have a paradox. We have heard a lot about how social media puts pressure on young people and that young people spend so much time on their mobile phones that they are losing the art of interaction, communication or interpersonal communication. On the flip side, we are marketing an e-service to interact with services. Is there a drawback in having an e-service? I am not saying that it is wrong and simply wish to learn more. Should we start putting resources into education to foster or encourage face-to-face interaction or more human interaction in everyday life?

Could the witnesses tease that one out?