Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I echo the Senator on the issue of counselling. Nine months is crazy. It is not sufficient. When someone is in desperation or suicidal, with recurring anxiety, or is feeling threatened - that may be internalised and is not necessarily external - nine months is an unsatisfactory wait. We have a scandalous arrangement where people are waiting anyway in the HSE. I spoke to a man a few weeks ago who was abused within this State. He is well known and has reported it to the authorities. He is initiating legal proceedings through the courts and he cannot get services. I have made representations to various Ministers and Departments on this. I meet this man weekly in Dún Laoghaire. He is desperate, anxious and vulnerable. He has had experience of living in an institution and he cannot access supports. Due to their kindness, a neighbour pays for some limited private counselling services. It is all unsatisfactory. I do not need to spell that out the to the Minister because he is aware of it. There will be a need for counselling. That is clear from having spoken to and knowing many people who will be involved with the provisions of this legislation when it is enacted. It is to be hoped it will be enacted. It is not everything any of us wanted but it is progress and I acknowledge that. It is important that we, the Department and the health service start preparing to provide counselling services. They are critical.In many cases, counselling services are the difference between life and death for people. That is the reality of it. There are many people who are constantly in and out of psychiatric services because of their trauma, experiences and vulnerabilities.

I thank Senator Higgins for raising this matter. It is a marker for us all that we now need to look at counselling services. There will be counselling services. There are people who will go on for many years without any form of anxiety or concern but then, suddenly, issues arrive and these things all come back up. Issues around these matters do not just go away, although they may go into abeyance for a while. I wish to flag genuinely that we need to look at counselling supports.

Initially, as this legislation is enacted, there will be a higher focus in terms of publicity. The usual old radio stations will conduct interviews and we will have the same people talking about their experiences ,describing how they were forgotten and lost, and all the stories that go with that, and genuine stories at that. The point is there will be a surge again, just like there is every time with issues like this, and therefore we need to be ready, in the short term by providing confidential phone services and things like that, which in turn could be an initial reception for people. At least we would be aware of them and we could give them a referral at some future date. It is important because I genuinely believe it will open up a lot of issues for many people.