Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh míle maith agat, a Chathaoirligh agus cuirim fáilte roimh na haíonna uilig. Gabhaim buíochas leo as ucht an méid atá ráite acu. I thank the witnesses for their submissions and presentations.

I endorse various things I heard, including what Mr. Honer said about the important work and role of SNAs and the need to put more structure and recognition into their situation. I will especially mention what Ms Foley had to say about the stress caused by the leaving certificate examinations and I will speak about that in a moment. I also endorse what Ms Leydon said about pastoral supports and the role of guidance counsellors and what Ms Ní Chéíleachair said, which was also a point made in the INTO submission, about family and marriage breakdown. That is an issue that needs to be talked about. There is a crisis in that area and in our society, which lies behind much of what we are talking about today. We do not speak about it often.

I will begin, however, with the issue that worries me most, namely, the Maynooth University study that states that 40% of Irish adults have a mental health disorder. If we really believe that, I wonder if any amount of resources can deal with the problems we face because that would be indicative of a society in a state of breakdown. We advert to these statistics, as we should, because they are published by researchers. We need to interrogate that figure and what it means for our society. I read up a little on it and it states that insomnia is one of the main issues. How long can a society continue to function if 40% of people have mental health challenges?

I mentioned to the group who attended the committee meeting last week that while I support and endorse the various calls for resources, I ask people to focus on whether changes to the system can help. I would be grateful to hear the witnesses' views on whether, given the shortage of experienced staff in the system, including in psychology, speech and language therapy and medicine, the shortage of people available to work in Ireland will bedevil the entire effort no matter what resources are in place. Would the witnesses support a policy that reserved 50% or 60% of college places in the areas of psychology, pharmacy, speech and language therapy, medicine, etc., for people who are ready to work in Ireland for a defined period? That is the kind of serious measure that is needed. Is that something that is under discussion? Is it on people's radar?