Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is very helpful. It is always useful for us to have specific issues to focus on and chase after. A couple of weeks ago, doctors and medical professionals appeared before the committee. One witness spoke about a colleague who, as a GP in Australia, prescribed medication for about 30% of patients with mental health difficulties whereas in Ireland, she found herself prescribing for nearly 100% of such patients. I asked the witnesses whether she thought we were overprescribing and there was broad acceptance that we are because of the lack of other supports and resources. I know we had a conversation earlier about the biomedical model and mental health systems where we are prescribing for behaviour modification but not dealing with more significant issues. Could anyone comment on what was said from the perspective of GPs, overprescribing, including prescribing for up to 100% of patients, and what we are talking about today, which is from a more patient advocacy perspective? I do not want to make correlations or links between the two that are not there but I would be interested in hearing the witnesses' thoughts and the impact that would have.