Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This may elicit a response. It is not mandatory but if the witnesses would like to respond, they should feel free to jump in. There are a few things on my mind, having listened to the witnesses this morning. I am very conscious of the time. We started at 10.15 a.m. and it is now almost 1 p.m. but we will finish very promptly. Mr. Meehan mentioned the HSE is not solely responsible - of course, it is not. We are all responsible. In terms of promoting mental health awareness, there are so many things we have done and so many things we must do, including resilience and all the things that are patently obvious at this stage. There is no doubt in my mind that children with anxiety need all the supports available to them at a young age because it is critical to support young children in primary school who suffer from anxiety, and it is an ever-growing trend. I have read publications from most of the bodies represented today and it is a common theme throughout. I refer to the peer pressure and bullying young children in primary and secondary schools face and the role social media firms play in not just policing what is on social media or doing it properly, which they do not, or being given directions, which they are not.

I will give an example. I was not going to mention this, but I will do so. I was away last weekend and I made a comment on Twitter which I do a lot. Somebody inferred that I should be beheaded. It was not because I was in an Islamic state but I presume that is why the idea popped into their head. I very rarely do so, but I reported the tweet but it did not break the Twitter rules. I did not mention that to make a headline or whatever but show the sheer stupidity of that. The computer said "No". Some eejit somewhere in the world decided that it was not appropriate to take something like that down. It really got under my skin. I was so annoyed and I asked myself: what if I was a teenager and it was sent by the guy who lives down the street from me? Those pressures and that form of bullying are so prevalent in our society. Nameless, faceless people believe it is okay to do this, but it is not. That is why giving the Digital Safety Commissioner teeth and putting it into the BAI, or at least the code, would be an important step for us to take.

I am also aware of the work teachers, resource teachers and SNAs are doing in relation to young children.

I am also aware of the work that teachers, resource teachers, and SNAs are doing with regard to very young children. I am not sure if the public is aware of them but things likes Braincalm are being used. This is a very minor programme but it is really beneficial to children. It calms them and allows one to work with them to get to them to a point at which they can talk about things and understand the impacts of the world around them. When I took the Chair earlier, I heard Mr. Church says that 1,000 calls come into Childline every day. That is just one NGO, I am sure there are thousands more. In a country with a population of almost 5 million, it is very disturbing that 1,000 children are making such calls every day, and we only know about the ones who picked up the phone. What percentage of the children who need help feel strong enough to pick up the phone? Is it 5%, 10% or 50%? I do not know.

To tie back into what the witnesses have said in response to Deputy Buckley's very relevant question, are we in the right place? Are we going in the right direction? The witnesses are the experts. They are the people working in the field. If they say we are heading in the right direction, I accept that. I know there are problems. Representatives of the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, were here at the end of September. Deputy Buckley and I were here for that meeting. I know how important what they do is, but I also fully understand the need for us to understand why there are gaps, where they are, and what we can do to fill them. The committee has three reports outstanding. We will probably be publishing them before the Christmas break. One of them is on the recruitment and retention of social workers and one will be on youth mental health. The common theme is that we cannot get people into the positions to deliver the service. The budget does not matter, as Deputy Catherine Murphy quite rightly pointed out. One cannot spend the money because one cannot get the people to deliver the service. Something has to give. We have to figure out what it is. We know what it is. The question is whether we can afford it.

We have been here for the guts of three hours. I thank the witnesses very much for their engagement with us on this subject. The meeting is adjourned until 15 October, when the committee will meet in private session to finalise the report on child homelessness.