Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My apologies, Chairman, as I was trying to multitask.

I thank all of the witnesses. I will make a number of brief points. There is a similarity between both organisations presenting to the committee today. I believe Dr. Keogh referred to care being based on needs rather than on the ability to pay, which is spot on. This can be a very significant barrier. It is tough enough to get any assistance when it comes to mental health but if one has the cash one has some chance of getting one’s foot in the door. I know from being on the Sláintecare committee and on the Committee on Future of Mental Health Care, that we always reiterated that point.

Touching on the community and voluntary sector, which is a vital cog in the service, the professional side of the HSE and recruitment has been a very significant issue. Our witnesses are correct in referring to the need to think outside of the box in that if one cannot get a specific professional, one should get the next best person, which is better than not getting anybody. We had discussions yesterday on another committee on retention. One particular post was advertised for 13 years and was never filled, which was crazy.

Our witnesses mentioned schools and funding. I see that back in 2020, €2 million was proposed for third level education and for extra help in some universities because of anxiety and mental health issues. That was not spent either. A great deal of money has been promised but is not going to where it should be.

Ms Grogan mentioned the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act and other Acts such as the Mental Health Act. They have been very slow and without progressing those as fast and as hard as we can, we are not going to achieve what our guest speakers have sought to achieve, which is a proper functioning mental health service within the country.

I refer to the Midleton Centre for Autism funded by the Department of Education, which is the only all-Ireland specialist autism centre. With Brexit and discussions on a united Ireland coming down the tracks, is there any way we can give this issue an all-Ireland dimension? We are an island and we can learn from each other on this. Are there ways of working through this issue in that way?

Briefly, we are talking here about mental health, its reform and on working and finding proper models. Yesterday, a number of members of the Joint Sub-Committee on Mental Health discussed the closure of a mental health facility in my own town, a facility that is working perfectly. It is one of the best which has not had a case of Covid-19 and yet the HSE has decided that it will be shutting this facility next month because of lack of funding for structural issues. What would our witnesses reading be of such an issue? One has a model that has been working perfectly for years but constant Mental Health Commission reports have flagged issues that have not been reacted to by the HSE, where it has not invested in the building. That service could now be lost and the patients in that facility are now to be removed. If I was to have told our witnesses this last year, what would their reaction be to that have been?