I raise the issue of staffing in HSE psychological services. I have been contacted by a young man in my constituency who, to put it simply, has been strung along by the HSE and given no real therapeutic supports. This, of course, is a wider issue and not just in my constituency. Initially, the young man was seen by a psychologist in training, but when the training period ended, the supports also ended and there has been no replacement psychologist. There seems to be a recruitment issue and there are not enough staff. Students and trainees are being used to paper over cracks and the end result is that this young man, like many others, is not getting the supports he needs. What is being done to ensure there is adequate staffing in HSE psychological services? What is being done to ensure this young man who is asking for help gets the help he needs?

I thank the Deputy for his question. Psychology covers a wide area. I deal with psychology in the area of mental health provision and my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, deals with it in regard to disability services. I met with representatives of the Psychological Society of Ireland last week to discuss these issues. On average, between clinical psychologists, educational psychologists and counselling psychologists, there are approximately 84 graduates a year. As the Deputy knows, there is a huge differential between clinical psychologist trainees, who get support for their fees and 300 paid hours of placement every year, and other psychologists, who do not get any support and for whom it takes up to nine years to qualify. I will be meeting soon with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, on this issue. It is very important we support all types of psychology and that we enhance the number of graduates who can qualify every year.