Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I also think it is beyond despicable that the Stardust families are not being given legal aid. The Taoiseach should address that as a matter of absolute urgency because the families have been through enough and do not need further obstacles put in the way of their pursuit of justice.

I wish to raise a matter I have raised with the Taoiseach a number of times, that is, the plight of people training to be psychologists. We have unacceptable waiting lists in this country for mental health services. Thousands of children, teenagers and adults are on waiting lists for mental health services and they are often urgently in need of counselling and psychological treatment. I have met three times with psychology students, most of whom are young but some of whom are older and have gone into psychology later in life. The most extraordinary barriers are being put in front of those students attempting to get doctorates in psychology. They must work as assistant psychologists without pay. Posts have been advertised recently to that effect and those are not isolated examples because the practice is going on all the time. People are paying extortionate fees for an education and counselling psychology doctorate and receive no funding whatsoever. There are a tiny number of places available. Students are working on placement without pay. There are extraordinary barriers that mean large numbers of people cannot get through the system. When we have all these waiting lists and a mental health crisis that needs to be addressed, why is the Government not making it easy and supporting people who want to become psychologists in order to address the mental health crisis and waiting lists in this area?

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