Mr. Niall Mulligan:

The Deputy mentioned workplaces and prisons. We work in both places. We can only do so much, and certainly within the workplace, due to resources. The Samaritans have developed various apps for well-being in the workplace, which we work with companies around. We work with staff, encourage them to look after their own mental health and show them how to pick up signs that a member of the staff team or an employee is struggling. It is an important part of our work that the general public probably do not know about.

There are a number of general wishes. As the Deputy mentioned earlier, the Samaritans organisation does not work on its own. We work as part of a wider network. There are other organisations like ourselves that work in the area of mental health. We very much work together as much as we possibly can.

There are certain asks in terms of the forthcoming budget, which will be familiar to members. The Samaritans and others have called for an additional €85 million to be allocated towards mental health services with that sum to be divided whereby €65 million is for new services and €20 million is for existing services. By 2024, which is not far away, we want 10% of the overall health budget to be allocated towards mental health. At the moment the spend is between 5% and 6% but the World Health Organization recommends that it should be 12% of the overall health budget.

In terms of the overall mental health services, we need a comprehensive community-based approach that ranges from prevention to treatment and recovery. I refer to the relationship between State-run and HSE-run clinical services, alongside community-based organisations and projects that are either directly involved in mental health work, or indirectly, and by their very existence and nature they support the mental health of people so I am thinking of community-based initiatives. I am sure that people here will be familiar with the impact that addiction has on families. There are very good examples of family support networks that really need funding and, by extension, they help the mental health of people and families who are impacted by addiction and, similarly, in the area of homelessness, etc. I could list a whole stream of initiatives but they are all involved in some way or other with mental health services. It is hugely important and really good to see within the mental health strategy, other strategies and the legislation from Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, that everything is underpinned by human rights and the right of somebody to have access to good, free healthcare ideally, and a safe place to live. All of these things are intersectional and interconnected but lead to better mental health for the community and overall. That is the wishlist sought by the Samaritans. We are not unique in that ask and it is not rocket science. These asks have existed for quite a long time and one can verify that by asking anybody who has worked in this area of work for a long time. We feel like we are repeating ourselves but these supports are key and Ireland can do it. I hope that the wishlist is okay.