Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses for attending. I would like to explore online mental health services - the phone line and the Internet aspects. We have spoken about some of the benefits of that, and there are many benefits to it, but I am concerned about part of it in respect of people who do not have Internet access or phones, which I know was an issue with, say, young people in care or young people who had recently left care who would not have computers or phones to allow them engage in these projects. The witnesses might talk about some of the pitfalls of working in that kind of remote setting. We have spoken about some of the cohorts who did better but I refer to cohorts who engaged on a less frequent basis who found it difficult or cohorts who could not engage at all. They are the demographics or cohorts the witnesses would normally engage with but who disappeared during this time of Covid-19.

One of the witnesses spoke about communicating with older people via Zoom. My parents took to it, but other people's parents hated Zoom and would not engage with it. It is not necessarily a service for everyone. Can the witnesses talk about the pitfalls and the demographics or cohorts who could not engage with that service?