Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)

I speak in support of the amendment. Both the Minister of State and I have dealt with situations where people have sought the help of mental health services and have been effectively told they need to address the other issue, go elsewhere before they go to them or not to come to them at all. That is not good enough in the modern age. As Deputy Clarke said, there should be no wrong door. When somebody presents looking for help be it at mental health services or any other healthcare service, they need to be looked after. This is an important amendment. The principle of no wrong route to service needs to inform every activity in the mental health system, in dual diagnosis in the case of addiction and also in the case of people who have been or have yet to be diagnosed with ASD, for example. I think we are both aware of cases in which people were told go and address that diagnosis or issue before coming to mental health services.

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