As has been said repeatedly, mental health services are in crisis. We all know this because we deal with people. I express my solidarity with all of the people who work in mental health services, including in the community and in hospitals, because they are doing their best to cope with the situation they are in, despite the lack of staff and supports. By the time many people end up in hospital, they will often have tried to access community mental health supports over and over again, sometimes over years. We all know that early intervention is the most important thing. I have constantly raised the case of Genesis, a counselling service in Dublin 15. For a relatively small amount of money, an extra 4,000 hours could be provided for people in the Dublin 15 area. Could we look into something like this? Genesis provides low-cost counselling for people in the Dublin 15 area. Six years ago, I used to work as a child and family support worker and used to try to access CAMHS supports for young people. To be honest, circumstances are probably worse now than when I left the job. That is really bad because we are talking about children and other young people trying to access services. Early intervention is so important. Just last year, in response to several serious incidents in Dublin 15 and Connolly Hospital, Transport Infrastructure Ireland constructed railings across a bridge where there were two suicides. It is terribly sad that we are building infrastructure outside a hospital to stop suicides. It should be inside. That is the most important thing. We desperately need separate facilities for people who present at hospitals with mental health issues. They should not be in the normal emergency department as it is not appropriate. They should be in a separate space receiving mental health services.

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