Ms Fiona Coyle:

I will make a point about data. The lack of data is a fundamental barrier challenge to our health service in general, and in particular to our mental health services. We do not have data on who is accessing, why they are accessing, and more importantly what their outcomes are. In terms of implementing our policies, we are unable to see how well we are doing because we do not have the data to show how well we are meeting the needs of individuals. That data point is fundamental because if we do not know who is accessing our services, we cannot resource them, develop them, or scale them up. We know that under Sláintecare we are moving towards population based budgeting and healthcare. That is the general direction of travel, and all of this fits in. We need to understand who is accessing. If that ethnic identifier is done in a way that is compliant with human rights standards and is not promoting racism or xenophobia, it would be useful.

It would be useful in the implementation of Sláintecare and what it is trying to achieve.