Ms Ber Grogan:

I have the replies to parliamentary questions from Deputy Shortall. There has been no update since last week. I know it was raised during a meeting of the Joint Sub-Committee on Mental Health. The only update we have is that initiatives are being decided on, priorities are being looked at and it is hoped they will be in place by the end of quarter 4. The Senator knows it relates to delays. We do not even have any idea of what priority areas would be. There has been much talk today about rural areas, accessing people and creating the spaces for access so we will just have to wait and see what the Department and the HSE decide. However, we want it to be separate from whatever is in the mental health envelope in budget 2022.