Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Government's policy of being reactive rather than proactive has come home to roost again. The lack of foresight in ensuring more resources and more laboratories were available to read cervical screening tests after free tests were offered to women has caused even more anxiety among women. The Taoiseach made a statement at the time that plaintiffs in these medical negligence cases would not have to pursue their cases in court. We now know this statement to be untrue and a knee-jerk comment by the Taoiseach made in the wake of the cervical scandal controversy.

The CervicalCheck programme has been hugely successful and has saved many lives but we need to be very proactive now. We need to consider the Scally report and ensure its recommendations are implemented. These cover open disclosure and quickly introducing the simpler HPV testing system. We need to encourage women to continue to get cervical screening tests and do so in a positive manner. We must be pragmatic and ensure sufficient resources are in place if we promise any further services to women.

On a second matter, the waiting lists for primary care psychology appointments, more than 6,500 children are waiting for a first appointment according to Dr. Shari McDaid, the director of Mental Health Forum in Ireland. We are celebrating the 14th year of A Vision for Change, the programme for mental health services in this country. It is a very ambitious document and many of the policies set out in it have been successfully introduced. Unfortunately, however, many have not been implemented. Dr. Shari McDaid, in an interview on "Morning Ireland" this morning, described A Vision for Change as a car without wheels. She explained that to put wheels on the car we need a cost implementation plan, we need to know where we want to be in the future and how much it would cost and we need to put that into action and stand by the budget. In the past, Governments have not stood by mental health budgets and there have been serious deficits in them. We have raised this issue when discussing the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, and the closing of Cherry Orchard Hospital. This week, 500 psychiatric nurses went on strike, which means nurses are being taken from the system and there are fewer services for children.

Yesterday, we introduced a Private Members' Bill providing for investment in teachers to ensure they have more expertise in first aid and are able to identify children experiencing anxiety issues. As the old proverb goes, mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. Cáin na n-óg agus críonfaidh siad. We must invest in children because investing in adults is that little bit too late.