Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Minister of State for that response. I want to pay tribute to the Minister of State for stating that she is driving this. She wants to see the reinstatement happen. This is because she knows that this will drive the change in policy that she wants to achieve in the whole area of mental health in Ireland. As the Minister of State said, there has been much discussion, in particular about youth mental health, in the last few weeks.

As we exit Covid-19, we now see that people, and young people in particular, are reconnecting with society. Some are embracing that fulsomely, while others are not so much. They are finding that tough. They are the people who we need to make sure that we protect. As the Minister of State said, there are a huge number of good people working in her Department and in agencies right throughout the country in the area of mental health. However, there are gaps in the service. As the Minister of State said, we do not know what we are facing in the years ahead as a result of the fallout from this. Life is challenging in normal times. It has become even more challenging because of this prolonged period of isolation and withdrawal from normal life. We need to make sure, because we do not know what we are facing as a result of this prolonged period of isolation, that we have a director of mental health services to face that storm and to make sure that we achieve what we need to achieve in protecting our people.