Alan Kelly (Labour)

I welcome the comments by numerous Senators today on mental health. I will not dwell on or repeat them, except in one area. I was in agreement with Senator Glynn on the issue of the way in which mental health services are being used by people who should probably be using other forms of treatment, for example those who are suffering in some cases from drug abuse. In areas where I suppose the figures are not as high, and particularly in rural areas, often there is a mix-up of services. I have seen this directly in a tragic scenario, similar to the one reported today and yesterday, in my constituency in recent months where a person was wrongly sent to a mental health institution. Tragedy ensued.

Detoxification is also an issue. Sometimes people who are sent to drug treatment clinics must be nine days detoxified before they are admitted to programmes. There is a question to be asked with regard to the time they must wait before they get treatment. These people are so vulnerable that it is questionable whether they can stay away from drugs for that length of time. The crossover between drug treatment and mental health is an area that needs to be addressed urgently because in many cases people are being sent to the wrong place for help.

I welcome the fact that RTE returned to its high standard of production with its programme on fuel smuggling. Some contributors to the programme stated one of the reasons authorities may turn a blind eye towards this smuggling is because it does not involve a loss to taxpayers in the Republic, although it did some years ago. It was also suggested the reason for turning a blind eye was to facilitate discourse relating to the peace process. Turning a blind eye is a concern. Despite the fact there is not a loss to the Exchequer, it is worrying that fuel smuggling continues and is not addressed as it should be.

Can the Leader give us any update with regard to a debate on tourism, particularly with regard to structures? We talk about the public service, but we have multiple tourism organisations with multiple HR and IT departments. I would welcome debate on this in the near future.