Dr. Jenny Mack:

I thank the Senator for asking that question. As regards the work on mental health in public health in Northern Ireland, where I am based, we sit with the public health agency and it does fantastic work in mental health, particularly in children and young people. I would echo some of what was said about the drivers of poor mental health, particularly in women - not just in mental health but in physical health as well. Women are a particularly vulnerable group in terms of being at higher risk of various conditions and the socioeconomic conditions around us. There are barriers to healthcare that are quite prevalent, and when it comes to mental health there are drivers in terms of the social determinants of health in relation to inequities we have seen in Northern Ireland. We have a Northern Ireland health inequalities monitoring system which is really helpful in grounding the data in sex as well. I would be very happy to share some of the data on the mental health experiences faced by women in Northern Ireland. Dr. Kavanagh may have more of a picture of the experience in Ireland.