Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Certainly, many Deputies in the Lower House and Government colleagues in the Seanad rightly raised, time and again, concerns about directors' and executive pay in the banks. When Government gets an opportunity to put forward its view on the levels of pay in the banks, all I want to know is why Deputy Noonan, on behalf of the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government, abstains from voting. It makes no sense to me. What is the point in having the shareholding?

I would ask that the Leader arrange an urgent debate in this session on adult mental health services and their funding. We have held discussions in the past. I raised specific issues here. For example, the Cúram centre in Swords in north County Dublin, which has the largest catchment area of 78,000 persons in the country, has been moved out of its offices and day clinic and has been shoe-horned into the back of a medical centre. It has insufficient space to hold a day-care centre, so much so - this is where Government is prioritising mental health funding - that a new psychologist who has been appointed to this centre must work out of Coolock as there is not even room for that individual to work in this centre. A second psychologist, who is due to return from maternity leave in four weeks' time, cannot join the team in Swords and must work out of Balbriggan, and two of the psychiatric nurses work from another office. I raised this directly with the Minister as an example of our adult mental health services. If Government is serious about tackling mental health, we should not only fund it appropriately, but ensure that the physical infrastructure is there for them to do so.

These are specific examples which five months ago the Minister, Deputy Reilly, stated he would look into, but there has been no response from him.