Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

----- and not to have to wait perhaps a year for treatment, as a young person in my constituency has recently informed me they will have to wait, despite knowing from a private practitioner what specific treatment is required. The fact that someone is not in what might be described as a crisis situation does not mean the situation can or should wait.

Properly funded public treatment is ultimately the answer. However, in the interim, we can and should find other ways of encouraging people to look after their mental health. For example, tax can be claimed back for a whole variety of procedures and treatments, from dentistry to laser eye surgery. Why not for counselling or psychiatric treatment for the general population, or for any of the many treatments that may assist in safeguarding good mental health? This is not ideal, but could be an interim measure. I emphasise that they are interim measures because ultimately these treatments should be provided through the public system and in that context the recent €12 million cut was deeply disappointing and harmful.

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