Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to discuss mental health and how our State responds. We all know the historic position that mental health services had in this country during the last century. There was little investment and a damaging institutional approach, all reflective of attitudes at the time. Thankfully, today attitudes are different and the State's response is different. We now have a problem of prioritisation, however. The State is seemingly in perpetual catch-up mode to try to provide the services to reach everybody who needs support. For too many, it simply does not happen and that is unacceptable. I think of course, of CAMHS and the urgent need for services to be regulated and for coverage to be expanded.

Much of the focus in today's debate is on the high-level critical interventions, the need to recruit and resource into CAMHS and the need to rapidly pass the mental health (amendment) Bill. I wish to put a focus, however, on the State's ability to direct early interventions. For young people, early intervention is absolutely crucial to avoid issues escalating and the need for more significant treatment later on. I think specifically of Jigsaw in Dublin 15, in my own constituency. The work it does saves lives.

I was disappointed there was not a lot on that early intervention piece in the programme for Government. I would welcome the Minister of State addressing this in her concluding remarks because I know she gets it. She might speak to what she and the Government intend to do in the area of early intervention.

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