Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join Senator Horkan in welcoming our dignitaries from the Czech Republic and wishing them and our Czech population here a good day.

The budget has been revolutionary and radical in its improvements for children, a vulnerable section of our population that is the future of our country but that would not necessarily have a voice. A couple of radical things happened in the budget. The second reduction in the cost of childcare, bringing it down by 50% in two years, is extraordinarily radical. The doubling of child benefit at Christmas is a huge step, as are the various interventions in terms of free school textbooks and free school meals up to junior certificate, the various interventions in third level education and medical cards continuing after the age of 18.

However, we should never rest on our laurels or assume that all is well in the state of Denmark because we have done significant things. For this reason, I raise an issue that remains difficult and contentious, namely, child and adult mental health services. There are two issues here. The Acting Leader is a former primary teacher so I have no doubt that this subject is close to her heart. We need to know there is quality of service and there has been dispute about that. We need objective criteria to be very sure the best personnel and best regulated service are in place. Critically, we need to reduce waiting lists. I know there has been progress and I know the Acting Leader will be able to report progress on behalf of the Government but it is unacceptable that an adolescent would wait for more than a month for mental health services. In some instances, even waiting for a month is too long but waiting for over a month is unacceptable. It is also unacceptable for there to be any diminution in or lack of quality in the service and for there to be a total reliance on drugs or quick expedients to solve a problem that needs a deeper and possibly more costly intervention. I want the Acting Leader to bring to the attention of the Government that we want waiting times to be no longer than a month and that no other objective is acceptable, that we want a quality service and that there can be no suggestion of an over-reliance on drugs or any failures in that regard.