Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank all our witnesses for coming in this morning. I join with my colleague in saying it is a refreshing and welcome change to have an all-female panel. People will be jumping onto Twitter now to give out about me saying that. They had better preface that by showing examples of them giving out on occasions there has been an all-male panel. People do not give out about that. I welcome the all-female panel and the witnesses are all very welcome.

Reference is made in the Mental Health Reform submission to the piloting of e-mental health supports. Britain is using a crisis text line, Shout, which comes from an American-based model. I have concerns about e-health in general. I am not convinced of its merits but I have very particular concerns regarding e-mental health and e-mental health supports. I would be interested in our guests' views on e-mental health as a back-up when there are other services on offer and, in particular, on abandoning traditional services in favour of online supports. If we give someone an app, that is not the same as offering him or her real support. It is not going to where the person is at; it is simply fending off a problem and not actually dealing with it. I would be interested to hear our guests' views.