Dr. John Hillery:

The first question is kind of a simple and stark one, is it not? Are we failing children and adults with disabilities as regards mental health services? Dr. Finnerty's report would suggest that we are, but for a multitude of reasons. However, the simple answer is "Yes". Dr. Finnerty has suggestions in the report as to what needs to happen. We know that the HSE has plans for mental health and intellectual disability teams for children with intellectual disability, and there are some set up around the country, but that has been held up by issues about getting people to work in them and other issues.

The simple answer is "Yes". Related to this, I have referred to children with disabilities, be they physical, cognitive or developmental disabilities, who probably present in ways that are strange to the outside observer. This goes back to something else Senator Clonan said about people's attitudes to people with disabilities. People may say in a simplistic way that a person must need to see a psychiatrist. Senator Clonan and I know this is not the case. The person is having a reaction to their environment which needs to be managed in a different way.

A few years ago I found myself on "Prime Time" confessing to the fact that I was prescribing large doses of medication for young people to protect their parents and siblings in their homes because they were not getting appropriate services. I was sad to see that three weeks ago "Prime Time" had a similar show about a similar issue. It is not the fault of the person showing these behaviours. It is not the fault of their families. Senator Clonan made the key point that outside observers make many judgments. We need education for people but if we had proper services and supports for people these things would not happen. That was a long answer to a simple question.