Ms Fiona Coyle:

I am happy to take that question and I thank the Senator for it. The position of director of mental health services was in place previously but it was lost a number of years ago. There is broad agreement on the importance of having a senior decision-making strategic role in the HSE. That person needs to be report directly to the CEO. Many structural barriers need to be addressed and there is a need for that senior level of leadership to bring about that change. We are calling for that position to stated immediately. Again, it speaks to HSE taking seriously the issue of parity of esteem between mental and physical health.