Dr. Tadhg Crowley:

I thank the Senator for her question because it strikes at the heart of general practice and the issues we have. To reiterate what our colleagues would say, I cannot count the number of times that all GPs, particularly those in this room, have been in consultations with severely distressed people with mental health issues who had nowhere to go. Our only option is to keep bringing them back to the practice while we are trying to facilitate public services. GPs are the first line of contact for mental health issues and there are no resources. To reiterate what we are saying in terms of going back to free GP care, sometimes structured care and programmes offer far better value for money for the State and patients. Mental health would certainly fall into that category. It would be high up on the list of any GP working on the ground in Ireland. Mental health issues are huge. The number of cases we have seen in the past couple of years, particularly during Covid, has been very upsetting and distressing. We could spend the day sharing various stories.