Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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9. To ask the Minister for Health his views on a study by the Maynooth University centre for mental health and community research that has led to calls for the implementation of a family-focused approach to treatment in cases in which parental illness is identified and if the Government has plans to introduce a family-focused approach to mental health treatment. [26279/22]

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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What are the Minister of State's views on a study by Maynooth University’s centre for mental health and community research that has led to calls for the implementation of a family-focused approach to treatment in cases where paternal mental health illness has been identified? Does the Government have any plans to introduce a family-focused approach to mental health treatment?

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the research findings of Maynooth University’s centre for mental health and community research into family-focused interventions where there are parental mental health difficulties. The study is known as the PRIMERA programme, the findings of which I launched last week. The university's research programme findings recommend a family-focused approach.

This was funded by the HSE at a cost of almost €500,000. The centre did a huge amount of research over the last five years. It is estimated one in four people will experience mental health difficulty in their life. Parental mental health can typically affect the entire family. It is estimated one in five children have a parent with a mental disorder. Where there are parental mental health difficulties, the risk of children themselves developing mental disorders and impaired lifetime outcomes is higher.

It is recommend that a Think Family policy and practice approach be developed and incorporated urgently as part of the routine adult and child and adolescent mental health services. This programme identified, implemented and evaluated family-focused interventions for families with parents with mental illness. One of the evaluations was that when there was a six- to ten-week programme - this was trialled with I think with 136 families - of between six and ten interventions and meetings with the families and young people involved, the outcome was absolutely fantastic. It is therefore really important we develop this programme and include it in Sharing the Vision.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State. I am a graduate of Maynooth University so I welcome the report by the centre there. I have worked in community mental health services and always found the inclusion of family members, loved ones, or both had much more positive outcomes. That holistic approach always works. As the study said, when a parent has mental health difficulties it can typically affect the entire family. I use the analogy of throwing a stone into a lake and seeing how the ripples go outwards. Those mental health difficulties touch everybody who is close to the person. As the Minister of State mentioned, the report said 23% of all families have at least one parent with mental ill health and that increases the likelihood of the children having a lifetime risk of mental ill health by 41% to 77%. This could be a really early indicator. We have had the debate around early interventions loads of times. Is this something that will be looked at going forward?

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy and I are on the same page here. It is hugely important. The centre spent five whole years looking at the effect mental illness of a parent has on the family. Family involvement, as the Deputy said, is very important in the recovery process and it is aligned with Sharing the Vision which, as the Deputy knows, is a ten-year plan. To show how important family involvement is I recently set up a reference group to support the work of Sharing the Vision’s national implementation monitoring committee. The group will represent the voice of the service users. There are family members, carers and family supporters on it. The group will ensure that the values of recovery and person-centredness espoused in Sharing the Vision are prioritised in all aspects of the implementation of the policy. It held its first meeting two weeks ago. The organisation Shine is providing the format for it as well as the secretarial support. I attended the very first meeting and met all the group. Group members were so delighted the voice of the family, the voice of the service user and the peer support is all being included.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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The report also states, "there has been a growing recognition in most European countries of the need to support families in order to protect children, but Ireland lags well behind", so we are playing catch-up at this stage. One of the recommendations of the report is, "Increased collaboration between traditionally segregated adult and children’s services", for example, mental health services and schools. I met the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy two days ago. Association representatives have spoken to the Minister of State before. They spoke to me about their proposal for providing counselling and psychotherapy in secondary and primary schools. They say this service is going to be outside the scope that is already there for guidance councillors and would be on the recommendation of the school. This report could be a way of identifying children who need early intervention. Would this be something the Minister of State might work at? Could it be done in a cross-departmental way with the Department of Education?

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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It is interesting the Deputy has raised this today. Deputy Lahart raised it with me last night as well. The association has obviously been meeting with quite a few Deputies around the House. There would have to be collaboration with the Department of Education. We have collaborated previously when I sent out the leaflet on supports available to young people. The situation has changed, as we all know. The day is gone that when children present to school they just come to learn to read, write and do maths. Children are presenting with so many complex needs at the moment. I was in Mount Sion Primary School in Waterford, which Deputy Cullinane knows well, last week. I was there to speak about the supports offered to children, especially children with complex needs. Teachers know first-hand the supports children need. They have them for six hours every day. A collaboration between our Department and the Department of Education must happen. It is happening at some level but we must accelerate it.