Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I regret that I missed some of the meeting but I had to go elsewhere.

Ms Manahan just touched on the cost benefit analysis which was one of my questions. We need not just to convince the VHI and other private insurance companies, which cover about 45% of our population but the HSE as well. Currently some €400 million is being spent on psychotropic drugs as opposed to the €10 million that is going in to underpin talk and other therapies. Have we got figures for that cost benefit analysis in the long-term to push that?

I just love Dr. Harry Barry and think he is brilliant. He talks such common sense. I want RTÉ to approach him to do a series on well-being education for parents and young children. It would blow people away. I have talked about this idea passionately for at least two to three years. We need to instill a sense of well-being and take on illness.

I have a great deal of contact with Ms Helen Bevan, chief transformation officer, and one of the directors of the NHS. This is about agents for change. They have established three foundation trusts so far that have taken out the word "illness" and replaced it with "well-being". We have to focus on that. We have a small population that needs the wrap-around service for serious enduring mental illness. The rest of it is social; it is about being able to function and having a contented life. It is also about well-being. I am not sure about the term "mindfulness"; I prefer the term "thoughtfulness". Let us simplify everything and instead have plain simple clarity. Let us claim back our children's lives instead of overburdening them. We have nowhere else to go, so we get a diagnosis and medication that will follow us all our life.

I hope RTÉ is listening and will contact this man to commission a series because it would do wonderful things for education and would reach a broad scale of the population. It will also bring back our common sense and our innate ability to care for, mind and educate one another.

I wish to mention the legislation on the use of digital devices in schools, with which we grappled previously. The use of such technology injures face-to-face human interactions, socialising and maturing. Therefore, we need legislation to tackle the problem yet not curtail rights. People need to be responsible parents, leaders and legislators and introduce legislation that allows children to grow up in an environment that promotes social interaction. If we do not take action then within a generation people will simply keep their heads down and be unable to say hello, snarl or smile at anybody.

The river journey is extremely important. A YouTube clip on same would go viral.

Dr. Barry mentioned a national talk therapy structured group that would act independently of the HSE. I ask him to outline the practical structure and operation of such a scheme.