Mr. Damien McCallion:

Part of the PEACE PLUS programme which is bringing together PEACE and INTERREG was also focused on trying to support and deal with some of the legacies from the Troubles. We know the mental health challenges that brings. That will be a key part of the PEACE PLUS programme. We know the challenges with mental health services generally and we need to layer onto that the impact of the Covid pandemic. That is one of the reasons the partners identified mental health as one of our priority areas. We are not necessarily trying to provide all the services; that responsibility lies within the HSE and the various trusts. We are looking for areas where we can add more to it and make a difference.

We have good support across the clinical community, the trusts themselves and the agencies. We know if we are going to try these new ideas, we have a good chance of success because we will only be able to identify certain priorities and we need to zone in and make that work. As I said earlier, if it works, we need to ensure we work with the policymakers and the agencies to try to get that mainstreamed so that the people benefit not just in Border areas but also more widely, both North and South.