Mr. Pat Treanor:

I wish to respond to Senator Black's comments on mental health services. Like every other region, ours suffers from a lack of investment. Through the public participation networks at local councils and social inclusion policies, we are starting to deal with people who have been excluded for all kinds of different reasons. There is a particular understanding that some of them are not involved in citizenship in everyday life because of mental issues. Again, there is not nearly enough focus on it.

That brings me to the questions about relationships under the Good Friday Agreement and people's concerns. There are other aspects of the Good Friday Agreement, particularly those relating to the implementation bodies. There are other articles and sections of it that deal with civic participation, the civic forum and the feed-in from community groups. After the Good Friday Agreement there was a great rush of community groups on both sides of the Border meeting to deal with common issues. However, two things happened very quickly. First, they ran into jurisdictional legal differences. Second, funding for their involvement was cut by about 40%. There is frustration there, but also a willingness to get engaged again and stay involved.

There is another aspect of the Good Friday Agreement. When we talk about all the economic developments and progress that has been made, the other aspect around reconciliation and peace-building that is not as measurable is the fact that we as councils are working together on the issues that affect us. Trying to address the problems helps to create trust, respect and appreciation for where other people are coming from. That feeds into the outcome of the Good Friday Agreement. Confidence is low at times, because we are 20 years on and the Good Friday Agreement really raised people's hopes and expectations. We need to do more work. Confidence does drop at times. The work the committee is doing is vitally important for all of us and for the country, particularly for building relationships.

We are here to represent ICBAN. It is notable that Mr. Baird of the Ulster Unionist Party, Mr. Robinson of the Democratic Unionist Party and I, a representative of Sinn Féin, work together on all of these issues. Sometimes, watching the TV news at night, one would not think that is possible, but it is. We have grown to know, respect and appreciate each other's point of view.