Dr. Shari McDaid:

I thank the committee for its invitation and for agreeing to allow me and Caroline to speak about the facts and the consequences of the mental health challenge facing us. I will speak to Mental Health Reform's position and Caroline will speak to the issues from her own personal experience.

Mental health is a huge issue for our country and for our well-being but our response is neither adequate to the need nor proportionate to the scale. We will speak to just two aspects of this challenge today, namely, civil rights and mental health services. Mental health difficulties are one third of the disease burden in Europe. By 2030, mental health difficulties are expected to be the largest contributor. The cost of poor mental health in Ireland has been estimated at 2% of GNP. This represents more than twice the cost of being overweight and obesity. However, these figures are a superficial yardstick. We are here today to talk about people in crisis, for whom support is inadequate and unacceptably lacking.