Gary Gannon, An Cathaoirleach: I welcome our witnesses attending today.

I welcome Dr. Sharon Lambert, from the School of Applied Psychology, UCC, and the Psychological Society of Ireland; Ms Caroline O’Reilly, addiction counsellor and psychotherapist; and, from Addiction Counsellors of Ireland, ACI, Dr. James O’Shea, chairperson, Dr. Laura O’Reilly, vice chairperson, and Mr. Jay Collins, secretary. On our agenda today is engagement on the topic of intergenerational trauma.

All witnesses and members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice that they should not criticise or make charges against any person or entity by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to the good name of the person or entity. Therefore, if statements are potentially defamatory in relation to an identifiable person or entity, witnesses and members will be directed to discontinue their remarks. It is imperative that they comply with any such direction.

I remind members of the constitutional requirement that in order to participate in public meetings, members must be physically present within the confines of the Leinster House complex. Members of the committee attending remotely must do so from within the precincts of Leinster House. This is due to the constitutional requirement that in order to participate in public meetings, members must be physically present within the confines of the place where the Parliament has chosen to sit. In this regard, I ask any member partaking via MS Teams that prior to making their contribution to the meeting they confirm they are on the grounds of the Leinster House campus.

This is our fourth hearing in public session. All the opening statements have been circulated among members and will be published on the Oireachtas website after this session. As we agreed, we will limit each opening statement to five minutes to allow plenty of time for questions and answers. I am aware that a wide range of issues will be the subject of the discussion today. If necessary, further and more detailed information on certain issues can be sent to the clerk of the committee for circulation to members. Members will be in and out of the committee room, so I ask witnesses not to read into that. Unfortunately, we have not yet mastered the art of bilocation.

I invite Dr. Lambert to give her opening statement.

Dr. Sharon Lambert: Today, I want to discuss briefly the powerful but often overlooked concept of intergenerational trauma. This refers to the transmission of the effects of trauma from one generation to the next, not just through stories or memories but also through behaviours, relationships and biology. Any discussion on trauma must first seek to understand what we mean by psychological trauma. The term is defined differently across disciplines. There are narrow definitions that situate trauma as exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury or sexual violence, and there are broader definitions that imply trauma also includes emotional abuse, neglect, systemic oppression, racism and poverty. Our understanding of trauma has expanded with advances in research, and there is increasing evidence that toxic stressors are experienced as traumatic by many people. There are biopsychosocial impacts of trauma. Biological impacts relate to potential epigenetic changes that alter gene expression patterns without changing DNA sequences directly. Such alterations often involve stress-regulatory genes, with the potential to add to an individual’s children’s vulnerability to stress, anxiety or trauma-related disorders. Psychological issues relate to unresolved challenges passed on to the next generations, including relationship and communication difficulties. Social effects can be seen in the cycles of exclusion, poverty and other social challenges...

[Click here to read the full debate in the Oireachtas website]