Dr. Anne Kehoe:

I thank the Deputy for highlighting that difficulty around parity of funding for training. As Dr. Drumm states, the Psychological Society of Ireland has advocated for a long time on that and we hope to see a big change in future with funding for educational and counselling psychologists, given the amount of service that is needed.

There is the idea that 24-7 mental health services are required in the community and the nature of the service provided has to be considered carefully. Currently, most out-of-hours crisis care is provided in the medical model by medical staff, including psychiatry, nursing and GPs.

That really perpetuates the medical model for anyone presenting in a crisis out of hours, whether it is at night, at the weekend or in the early hours of the morning. Really, people should first have access to psychological support that is appropriate and central in their care delivery.