Dr. Fiona O'Reilly:

I thank the Senator. I will comment on the inadequate service provision and what, owing to capacity, we can or cannot do. I will ask Dr. Skuce to comment on the impact of those barriers and transience on the health and welfare of, particularly, the Roma community. Earlier this morning, I spoke to one of our general practitioners, GPs, who is looking after some asylum seekers in emergency accommodation. She had just seen a man who is new to the country, having fled persecution. He has physical ailments as a result of being beaten and tortured, but it is his mental health she is really concerned about. A couple of weeks ago, she referred him to psychiatry for suicidal ideation and he was admitted. He is now back in the emergency accommodation. The hospital recommendation was for GP follow-up care, but she is seeing him in his emergency accommodation. He has no GP, except her, because, as the committee will be aware, we visit sites. She will need to see him again in two weeks' time but she does not know where he might be in two weeks' time. This man does not have a phone or an Irish SIM card. She put him on whatever medication she could, which would be antidepressants which mean follow-up is required. She also gave him a contact number for Safetynet so that he could call us because we have no idea where he will be in two weeks' time. That is just an example of the transience issue. On the Roma community specifically, as I said, Dr. Skuce, will comment on that.

In terms of the adequacy of service provision, it is more than just a funding requirement for Safetynet. What I was talking about in my opening address is the completely different world we are coming into, which we have not recognised yet. Our health systems are built for an Irish population in the Ireland of 50 years ago. They are built for the local general practitioner who was born in the community and knows everybody in it, including their parents and grandparents. You cannot even get into services as adults, in particular disability services, because access is reliant on you having grown up here. We are trying to catch up. Safetynet is providing emergency primary care, but that is not a system of care that will ever have the capacity to provide primary care for incoming-----