Ms Kate Mitchell:

I thank the Deputy for her question. I wholeheartedly agree with her that there is a requirement for a greater focus on prevention and early intervention. That needs to happen at the earliest stages possible, including at the perinatal stage. The HSE has developed a model of care on perinatal mental health service provision. It is important that we see that progress. It should be a holistic approach so that we see things like public health nurses being trained to identify where there is a mental health need and able to refer appropriately. Maternity staff should also be trained and able to refer into more specialist services where required. Primary care psychology should be built up for families and young children.

On our early years programme, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs over the years has invested in area based childhood, ABC, programmes which support families, parents and young children. Some of those programmes are highly effective in addressing mental health but the approach is ad hoc. In some communities there is no focus on mental health or it is a small part of the programme. We need to see a national focus on mental health in these programmes and appropriate investment and resourcing.

On education, I would echo Mr. Power's comments. We welcome the reforms to the curriculum and the introduction of components on well-being. It is important that we ensure a strong focus on mental health within that. It is necessary not just at post-primary level but also within primary schools. We must ensure that we are not just presenting schools with guidelines or introducing a framework but that we are supporting our schools, teachers and administrative staff to be able to support children and young people.

There are initiatives in other jurisdictions. For example, in London mental health advisers who are specifically dedicated to mental health are appointed through local authorities. Their sole job is to support schools in identifying where the mental health needs lie and how to address them, and to frequently review them and respond to those needs. They are the types of initiatives that we need to look at.