Regarding respite, and the Deputy raised this issue with me last week, I have sought a comprehensive report on this issue in the Galway area. Respite is happening in other areas and I will furnish that information to the Deputy as soon as I get it. I have answered the question regarding the day care centres. Work is under way and the task force is in place, but it must be safe to do so. There were 393 cases of Covid-19 today, so we are trying to take a cautious approach in this regard. We want to open these day car…

I thank Members for another opportunity today to update the House on developments in the areas of mental health and older people. While we do not yet fully understand the effects of Covid-19 on mental health, a range of post-pandemic mental health and psychosocial challenges are likely to arise. These may persist for months or years afterwards, perhaps compounded by economic impacts. Surveys have shown an increased number of people reporting symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression during the pandemic. Many peopl…

I thank the Deputy for his continued interest in mental health and his constructive approach. He welcomed the surge capacity, especially in regard to eating disorders. There is no doubt but that in respect of these disorders, we have seen an increase in referrals over the past year. Four out of every five of those referred are young girls. There are major issues with eating disorders and self-harm of which I have become aware. I was delighted to reinstate the funding of €3.94 million to populate the three existing …

I thank Deputy Patricia Ryan for her continued interest in older people. On the first question, on mental health supports for older people, there are 1,000 mental health organisations throughout the country. We work closely with many such NGOs and fund them to provide supports for us. Nevertheless, it will always be the case that funding is made available at different times. We have to ensure that anybody who applies for funding ticks the boxes because this is taxpayers' money. There are so many different organisat…

I will respond as briefly as I can. With regard to the housebound, the figures provided are the same as those I was given last week. The reason there have been more referrals than the Deputy had heard about three weeks ago is that we left it open to GPs to continue referring people. I assume that some older people initially decided that they did not want the vaccine but later decided that they did. As of last night, the number of referrals stood at 3,500.

I thank all three Deputies for their constructive approach. To refer back to Deputy Murnane O'Connor's comments, although all three Deputies raised their concerns about older people and day care centres, I am particularly anxious to see the likes of the men's sheds, women's groups and active retirement groups back open. We are actively looking at that at the moment. I met with Seán Moynihan, the CEO of Alone, last week. Alone has done fabulous work. We are very conscious of the loneliness task force and supports fo…

I thank the Deputy for his comments. He is correct that our older people have proven to be very resilient and that they have done everything asked of them. We are concerned about older people who, restrictions aside, are not in a position to leave their homes and are housebound or bed-bound. In response, an additional 5 million home care support hours has been put in place this year to support those people in their homes, bringing the total number to 23 million. For those people who require reablement, particularly…

I thank Deputies for raising these issues relating to older people and mental health supports. The HSE has a range of proactive responses to any rise in service need, including online and other telehealth and psychosocial supports. In January 2021, we put in place a psychosocial framework for mental health promotion. The main thing we have to do is make sure older people, especially, know those supports are there and they can avail of them. We are really concentrating now on the signposting and getting the message …

As the Deputy knows, I cannot comment on any individual case. If he sends the details to my office, we certainly will look at them. A similar case, which had got newspaper headlines, was raised by another Deputy last week. However, the Deputy did not send me the details. It is very difficult to answer questions in the Chamber about such critical cases, where young people need support for eating disorders, if we are not made aware of them. I cannot discuss any individual case on the floor of the Dáil but my official…

The Deputy indicated that the details may have arrived in my office today. We certainly will look into the matter. It is important to note that decisions on all such issues are not political. They will always be made from a clinical and medical perspective.

Can I have a few minutes to respond?

Unfortunately, the Deputies are asking many questions and I will have no time to respond.

I wish to make a point of order. We are dealing with Dáil statements on the impact of Covid-19 on mental health and older people. That is what is happening today.

The Deputy raises a valid point. I have a 23-year-old daughter who has been working from the bedroom for the past 14 months. She is looking forward to getting back into the workplace. On the issue of students, last October I put in place a leaflet outlining all of these supports that are specifically there for young people in second and third level so that they are aware that there are vital supports. MyMind, for example, provides counselling in 15 different languages, and is providing us with 5,000 sessions a mont…

I thank Deputy Dillon for raising this issue. The proposal to establish a cross-governmental Youth Mental Health Pathfinder Project with participation from the Departments of Health; Education; and Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth received ministerial approval during the previous Government. The Department of Health has engaged extensively with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and continues to do so with the objective of agreeing an implementation option that fully addresses the …

I thank the Deputy very much for those kind comments. I am very much aware of the outbreak in the school in Youghal. As we all know, this can be very traumatic for the pupils and staff alike. The Deputy is correct that a walk-in centre will be facilitated. I am not sure of the exact details of where it will be but I will revert to the Deputy in writing on that point. We have seen these walk-in centres all over the country and they are very effective. We are finding asymptomatic people in various communities who do …

In answering the Deputy, some of those questions fall under the remit of the senior Minister, Deputy Donnelly. My remit is more for older people and mental health. As to the over 60-year-old people, as the Deputy is aware, this was changed again yesterday or the day before. Now, for example, anybody over 50 years of age will be able to receive AstraZeneca or the new Janssen vaccine that was passed by the European Medicines Agency, EMA, and the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, here. My understanding i…

I ask the Deputy to clarify to which report she is referring. I missed that line.

I thank the Deputy for that clarification and for raising the matter. I will meet the expert panel this afternoon. It was an absolute game-changer. We have the support of Nursing Homes Ireland. There are 575 nursing homes and they are all buying into this. We received short, medium and long-term recommendations and we took all 86 of them on board. The short-term recommendations have been implemented. They relate to infection prevention and control, staffing levels and avoiding the cross-over of staff between nursin…

I thank Members for their valuable contributions and will reflect closely on all statements relating to mental health and older people. Many of the issues highlighted are already being addressed through programme for Government commitments, our national policies and strategies and the HSE national service plan. We have achieved much in recent years through new developments and improvements to existing services. We are fully committed to a broad programme of reform to enhance both mental health and older people’s se…