Mr. Jim Ryan:

Clearly, as head of operations, I would always welcome additional resources being made available to mental health services, and over recent years we have seen significant additional resources, although more are required. One of the things we want to look at is our tiered level of care, and some of the contributions earlier from Jigsaw, Mental Health Ireland and Mental Health Reform spoke to that. We have a very strong relationship with our NGO partners, and part of that is about ensuring that where the HSE can fund external organisations to deliver, particularly on primary care and universal supports and in particular where young people are concerned but also for the entire population, in a way that is much more flexible, we have been trying to do that to try to reduce potential waiting times. We are also seeking to use technology. We now have service agreements with a number of organisations to deliver services on our behalf. Covid has made that even more urgent than it was previously, although it has also made it more possible.

We would welcome additional funding. If the Deputy looks back at A Vision for Change, although it was not possible during the recession, since 2012, significant additional resources have been made available. We would hope that in the implementation of Sharing the Vision: A Mental Health Policy for Everyone, which is really the key element, additional resources would be made available.