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

Professor Doherty mentioned the Australian model and the Beat the Blues programme. My wife does not like it when I say that prevention is better than cure but it is a fact. It is about the destigmatising of mental health issues. There are many areas where it is difficult to do that. For example, a member of the Defence Forces would not admit to suffering with mental health issues because it would mean he or she could would not be allowed to travel overseas or to use live rounds. That is a different issue.

As mentioned by Professor Doherty, this already works in one country. We should have the capability to look at how it works, how it is written in legislation and how contracts are addressed. As mentioned by other speakers, it is about the work plan. When a report is issued, it should be accompanied by an operational report on how X operates in X country with X population, which we should then try to mirror to our population. We need to identify the cost of X, Y and Z and then bring it to Government as the best way forward.

I did not choose this path but it is where I am today. I have always been very passionate about it, but it can be very disheartening to be here so many years on listening to the witnesses still saying that if we do not do X, Y and Z, which we have not been doing for the past ten years, we will be back here again in another ten years and things are probably going to be worse.

I thank the witnesses for their honesty. These things have be said.