Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like others, I welcome the Minister of State and wish him well in his new role. I commend my Green Party colleagues on bringing forward this motion. When we think about loneliness, any of those who have ever gone canvassing or knocking on doors will have encountered the case of the door you knock on and the person who wants to keep talking to you. It is not that they are supporting the other party and looking to hold you up but that you may be the only person who might have called to the door in the course of the day. This is one of the challenges. I will talk about the challenges encountered in rural areas, but people can be living right in the heart of a town or city and still feel very lonely.

It is quite amazing in this world where we are ever-more connected through devices and the Internet of things that we can increasingly be disconnected from other people. This is, therefore, a very important motion. It is an issue that has been explored before by various agencies and the Department of Health. In researching for today's debate, I noted that the Institute of Public Health did a North-South study in 2016 and very much identified the threat of loneliness to both physical and mental health. It clearly identified five groups in this regard. I was conscious that Senator O'Hara referred to them when he was speaking. These five groups that were identified as being at particular risk were members of the LGBT community, those with dementia or cognitive impairment, those with a disability, carers or ethnic minorities. These groups, especially, faced challenges.

As Senator Boyhan mentioned, the former Fianna Fáil Senator, Dr. Keith Swanwick, worked with ALONE in the establishment of the loneliness task force. This again emphasised some of the challenges being faced by particular sectors of the community while also making the point that loneliness can impact on anybody and people suffering from loneliness can be of any age or background. All this research was done, of course, before the onset of Covid-19. I do not think we have sufficiently examined the impact of Covid-19 on people's physical and mental health. I refer to the effect on the socialisation skills of younger people. Equally, however, as the Minister of State knows, many older people who were encouraged to protect themselves have not come back out after Covid-19. Our society will face many of these challenges. We have been talking about investment in research, but looking at the social impact of Covid-19 is important. I say this because, in many cases, we will not see these impacts fully manifested for some years to come.

People in the education system, including teachers, lecturers and those providing support services, are talking about some of the challenges in respect of the long-term impact of Covid-19. From talking to representatives of some of the farming organisations, I know the mart was, in many cases, often a social venue for older men. They may never have bought or sold anything there but there was an opportunity to mix with colleagues. Much of that activity went online and many of the older farmers have not been coming back to marts again. It is something I believe we need to address.

What can we do in this regard? I agree entirely with Senator Garvey and what she said about some of our community infrastructure and the great work many community organisations are doing. I was very pleased she mentioned, in particular, Muintir na Tíre and Macra na Feirme, organisations that are doing incredible work in rural areas in particular. I also commend the work of men's and women's sheds. I am especially familiar with two of the men's sheds, those in Gorey and Ballycanew. These are bringing together men who still have so much to give to their communities but who are often on their own. When they are able to work together with their peers, they can deliver. The supports the Government has been giving to those organisations are critical and need to be expanded.

In terms of youth organisations as well, it is almost scary now how many young people's entire sense of community is based on their groups on phones. It is all about the likes and shares and not necessarily about the interaction. Youth organisations, and the Minister of State will be familiar with many of them in Cork, do tremendous work. The Government has been increasing funding to youth organisations but we need to continue to focus on targeting those groups most at risk. Equally, investment in community, artistic and sporting organisations continues to be essential. Some of the recent announcements by the Minister of State's colleague, the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, are particularly welcome in this regard. The questions about transport are important too. In rural areas, especially, we must ensure we have public transport to allow people to get to some of these centres.

To make one final point about tackling loneliness, there are also the old methods of engagement and communication, including radio. Support in this context has been done in the past through the Sound and Vision fund in respect of building communities. Radio can be great company and this medium also needs to be considered. I wish the Minister of State well in this work. This issue of loneliness has very serious impacts on mental and physical health. I am glad the Minister of State is taking it seriously. I thank my colleagues in the Green Party for bringing forward this motion.