Dr. Niall Muldoon:

I have been calling for this for many years and have investigated on a number of occasions the separation between the HSE and Tusla or between the HSE and the Department of Education. This is an opportunity at primary level to engage a team that works to support children across their well-being and their mental health. Again, we do not have to do exactly what is in place in England, which is perhaps a clinical psychologist, a social worker, a clinical nurse and a mental health education person. That allows the service to work with an individual child who comes with an issue, such as bereavement, separation, divorce or whatever it might be. It also allows them to work with a group of peers and with families and parents as well. When something is more serious, they are already connected. They do not recreate, separate or impede what is already there but they have a smooth transition immediately. I think there is a four-week waiting list in most parts of Dorset to get into child and adolescent mental health services from this service. That is what we need to get. We need to get that engagement. It is working in England because the Department of Health is funding part of it and including its specialists so the referral is very simple and people know who they are getting a referral from. That sort of joined-up thinking is what we need to establish here.