Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Loughlin. I can tell she knew Maxine personally and I would be very happy to talk with her about the learnings she believes there are in terms of how the system failed Maxine.

This is an issue on which we have worked on a cross-party basis and I think we have made good progress. We now have a budget for mental health that is more than €1 billion for the first time ever and we will open a new mental health facility in Portrane early next year following its completion this year. We have brought in a new HSE grade of assistant psychologist and we have recruited 114 of them. We set up only last week the first ever 24-7 signposting helpline so people who need help at any hour of the day or night can know where to go to get that assistance. As the Taoiseach said, we have seen a fall of 20% in the CAMHS waiting list, and we need to continue to do more in that regard. This year, we will also see the publication of the new A Vision for Change. I hope we can continue to work on these issues as there is an awful lot more work that we need to do.

On Deputy Barry's question, first, I take offence at the use of the word "play". Nobody plays in regard to this matter, which is one that everybody in this House takes seriously and works very hard on. We want to achieve the same outcome, which is building mental health resilience in our country and reducing the level of suicide, and we have seen some progress on both of those matters.

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