Government Policy

This letter was published in the Irish Times on Thursday, Jun 29, 2017 Sir, – As the parent of a child with complex developmental needs, I was moved by “Laura’s story”, a mother who tries to convince her 10-year-old son every day that life is worth living (“‘My 10-year-old son wants to be dead. Nobody will help […]

Alcohol and a society in denial This letter was published in the Irish Times on Mon, Jun 26, 2017, 00:11 Sir, – Research emerged recently that strongly points to the harmful effect that alcohol has on our brains (“Just a few drinks will damage the brain, research shows”, June 6th). People who drank alcohol had poorer […]

Following continual delays there is a strong possibility that the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill may return to the Seanad in the coming weeks, according to Alcohol Action Ireland.   Now that the Bill seems to back on the agenda the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland encourages our Members and the public to contact their local T.D.’s to […]

The College of Psychiatrists of Ireland are part of an expert group involved in the drawing up of guidelines for the safe use of medicinal cannabis in qualifying patients. The Expert Reference Group will be chaired by Dr Mairín Ryan, Director of Health Technology Assessment at the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) and will include a […]

HSE launches new campaign Ask About Alcohol today to improve people’s knowledge about alcohol. The campaign aims to ask how much we’re drinking, and inform on how it affects your health and wellbeing, and how you can gain more by drinking less. The site has sections on your relationship with drinking, a drinks calculator, and specific information on alcohol and […]

National Taskforce on Youth Mental Health discusses the damage alcohol is doing to the mental health of our young people in the context of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People Helen McEntee today (Wednesday) reiterated her support for the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill. The Minister was speaking […]

A delegation from the Royal College of Physicians led by Prof Frank Murray made a pre-parliamentary presentation to more than 30 Fine Gael TDs and Senators in late November about the impact alcohol abuse has had on the health services. Incoming president of the College of Psychiatrists Dr John Hillery was among the speakers including […]

  With 55,000 Irish people living with dementia, and half a million living in families affected by dementia the launch of the National Dementia Awareness Campaign – Understand Together was welcomed by Minister for Mental Health and Older People Helen McEntee who stressed the importance of this scheme: Each year 4,000 people in Ireland develop a […]

Minister of State for Communities and the National Drugs Strategy, Catherine Byrne TD, has announced details of a public consultation on the new National Drugs Strategy which will set out Government policy on tackling the drug problem from 2017 onwards. The Department is seeking the views of the public and all interested parties on the drugs situation in […]

The College of Psychiatrists of Ireland fears that uninformed reactions to ISPCC statistics on childhood distress will further delay the development of appropriate interventions for children at risk of mental distress and illness. Media coverage of the ISPCC’s figures from their Childline service rightly focus on the slow pace of access to appropriate help for […]