Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 8 February 2022

Joint Committee On Health

General Scheme of the Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed)

Ms Susan Clyne:

If I may, I would like to respond briefly to the Deputy's point. It is important to recognise that there is a difference between the specialist service and what could be provided in the community. The CAMHS issue is focused on the specialist service. We are trying to make the point that there is a lot of work that can be done in the community. There are many other pathways. There is a lot of work our GPs and their in-house teams or the services coming in can do them for them.

I think we have failed across the board.

Some of the stigma around mental health has been lifted, but there is no point encouraging people to talk about their mental health if there is no one to talk to.