Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I do not question her commitment to this issue. One of the big developments she has progressed is the 300 hours of mental health classes to help students maintain their well-being in the post-primary school sector. That is very welcome in terms of prevention and helping people as early as possible. However, I must highlight my frustration and that of the people who are on the waiting list in this regard. We must conduct an examination of work practices if there is no flexibility with regard to providing cover for people on certain types of leave or on indefinite sick leave. The bottom line is that people on the waiting list are suffering and the waiting list is increasing because of this. It is a demand-led service.

I have worked in the private sector for most of my professional life. When one works in a demand-led service and one of the team members is out of work, there is a flexible arrangement or a flexible work model in place whereby somebody or the team can cover those hours to maintain the service. That is something we must examine with respect to everybody working in the service. I do not question their commitment and enthusiasm in how they approach their work but this is a systemic change that we must examine. Obviously, there are recruitment challenges and the HSE must work harder in addressing the recruitment shortfalls. It must find solutions to this. There is always a solution in recruitment. The issue is finding it and looking at how the HSE is working on this. However, I must highlight that people are on these waiting lists and we must catch these problems as early as possible because this is all about early intervention.

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