Ms Fiona Coyle:

In terms of mental health, it is worth noting, which I did earlier, that the Mental Health Act 2001 is out of sync with international human rights standards and that an update is long overdue. The Act which the emergency legislation updates needs to be reviewed and I urge that be done as soon as possible. I hope that we will see the heads of a Bill before the summer recess.

There has been so much learning about mental health. On a positive note, we have seen a real recognition that mental health is at the core of everything. It is brilliant that this committee has invited us here but we would like all of the Oireachtas committees to invite us because we feel that mental health is a cross-cutting issue, and one that needs to be addressed by many Departments and committees. I urge that we take the learning and see the public appetite for a review at the moment. I think we all agree that mental health is a priority area and I hope that we can move forward in a concrete, actionable way.