Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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Mr. Ryan referred to the use of technology. I have my own opinions about telemedicine, particularly in the area of mental health. I have made those views known and I am sure Mr. Ryan is well aware of them. I would like to draw his attention to some information provided by Samaritans Ireland. That organisation has described an increase in the number of emails it has received because service users find it difficult to talk on the phone in private during the lockdown.

This is not an ideal scenario. However, the measure was a stopgap. I would hate to think that a stopgap that was not ideal would somehow replace face-to-face services. It was part of a presentation and the slide indicates that phone calls appear to centre on a need for human contact. Replacing face-to-face services, even in a socially distanced way, with telemedicine will never be right. I do not believe that has any place. Based on when those services were replaced with a telemedicine service, calls to the Samaritans appear to centre on the need for human contact. How many of the services will be replaced with a telemedicine service? Does Dr. Niazi believe that would be an adequate replacement for face-to-face services.