John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate both Ministers of State on their appointment and look forward to working with them on this issue, which I see as not just an issue for the Government but for every Member of the Dáil.

I will use the brief time I have available to concentrate on mental health and early intervention strategies at the education level. When it comes to mental health, prevention is better than cure. That is the reason we need to equip children at a younger age with the skills that teach them self-awareness, self-worth and resilience. The National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2014-2020 recognises as a national aim that children should be "achieving full potential in all areas of learning and development" including "social and emotional well-being". It also states that we should be working towards "rebalancing resources to place greater emphasis on prevention and early intervention".

Early intervention is not only cost effective in the long term, it is also the best way to mitigate risks in future behaviour and promote positive outcomes for children and

young people. We have a duty to prepare children with the life skills to be able to face challenges in the future. Education should be holistic so we need to look at a multi-strategy health promotion project which uses a whole-school approach to promote resilience in children of primary school age. This strategy needs to link into the curriculum and one of the best ways to do that is to introduce health promotion as a compulsory subject in our schools.

In the Australian curriculum, students develop personal and social capability as they learn to understand themselves and others and to manage their relationships and lives while learning more effectively. Effecting change at an early age is the best way to equip our children into the future with the skills to avoid mental distress, to recognise the signs of being unwell and to reach out for help when they are in trouble.

Adolescence is often described as the peak time for the onset of mental health difficulties with up to 50% of all cases occurring prior to the age of 14. This relatively early onset points to the need for early intervention to prevent difficulties. Using schools as health promotion sites poses difficulties. The induction of teachers and professional development to deliver the curriculum in this process are paramount but this in itself poses challenges. We need to look at developing a compulsory curriculum that goes beyond the formal learning process. Schools provide an important setting for this. The evidence outcomes from the Australian model reflect this and it is something that needs to be duly considered for the Irish education system.

We need to show immediate commitment in this area. The cuts to counselling in our schools over the past number of years need to be reversed. The spend on mental health as an overall percentage of our health budget needs to be brought in line with our EU counterparts at between 10% and 12%. GPs are inundated with problems and often have to resort to short-term medication and, as a pharmacist, I do not see that as an ideal solution. We need a holistic long-term approach. Early intervention and a new curriculum in primary and secondary school are a long-term project that will require commitment and investment but will yield results and will benefit this generation and the next generation through their entire lives. I ask the Minister to take this proposal on board in developing a new strategy for the future. If he does, it will benefit the entire population.

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