Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for the questions. I also want to thank her for all the work she does in regard to mental health. I acknowledge how important it is to recognise that mental health matters and I acknowledge all the work Senator Black has done previously. I look forward to being part of our liaison with the sub-committee on mental health and I will co-operate in any way I can.

I will first answer the Senator’s second question in regard to capacity for counselling. As she will know, because of Covid-19, the HSE and the Department of Health reached out very quickly to many of the different NGOs with help and support. It is very good the relationship between the NGOs has been strengthened and put on a more secure basis over the past seven or eight months. Some 85% to 90% of all mental health supports were retained during Covid, which is very positive.

Specifically in regard to the counselling, MyMind, a group the Senator is aware of, is currently providing 3,000 online counselling sessions per month in 15 different languages, which is very important in the modern Ireland we are living in. The organisation has assured us it has capacity for 5,000 appointments per month. It expected to reach 4,000 appointments by the end of October, which was the end of last week, with 5,000 appointments per month up to Christmas.

The Senator is correct that traffic to the HSE mental health website was up 490%, with more than 800,000 visits between March and July. I understand the Senator’s point that we are going to see a huge increase in mental health presentations in the next six months.

On the Senator’s other question in regard to the mental health impact, I agree with her that data are very important. Last week, for example, I visited the CAMHS unit in Galway, which currently has 650 children, youths and adolescents on its books. The point made to me was that it had 18 referrals in the previous week alone, double the normal rate, and very few people are leaving the services at the moment, so this will add to waiting lists. We will be working very hard to collate the data because it is hugely important.