Mr. Conn McCarrick:

I am a member of the national executive. I am here today representing the constituency of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown's Comhairle na nÓg and to speak to the committee about mental health. Mental health is a vast and complex issue, but there is much that can be discussed. This year 14 comhairlí are dealing with topics relating to mental health. It is important to all comhairlí across the country, from Donegal to Dublin, from Cork to Carlow, or Louth to Leitrim. It is being discussed all the time. We see through the work of the AGMs that this issue is being brought up consistently and that many comhairlí are doing work to combat this. It is not isolated to these counties of the 14 comhairlí which are working on it. It is coming up in most comhairlí. Some comhairlí choose not to work on it because it is difficult to get concrete achievements in this regard.

The issues that continuously come up at comhairlí in this area are the lack of mental health services and the lack of awareness among teenagers about mental health services. There are some good resources available, such as Jigsaw, Reach Out, Headstrong, Foróige and the HSE, but we found that often young people are not aware of do not know how to access these resources at all.

There is a need for schools to provide information on mental health services. The schools can implement this in counselling services, in anti-bullying policies and by raising the profile of existing services. Schools can do a great deal to improve mental health by improving anti-bullying policy. They can tackle the issue there. By having someone to talk to, they can help boost positive mental health. In the curriculum, such as SPHE or RSE, much can be done on mental health to have someone to talk to.

On mental health services, the Comhairle na nÓg national executive met Mr. Martin Rogan, HSE assistant national director for mental health. I also got the chance to meet him at the Comhairle na nÓg showcase last week. He stated that the mental health services are under a great deal of pressure, that there have been staff reductions of 16% but that human contact is very important in solving mental health, and that the services are there but it is really an issue of awareness. After our meeting with him, it was clear that there are mental health services for young people available but many do not know about them or how to access them.

Comhairlí across the country have done much work to combat this. There are many different innovative and effective projects that Comhairle na nÓg has undertaken to promote positive mental health. Louth Comhairle na nÓg has developed an app about coping with mental health issues and promoting positive mental health generally. A number of comhairlí have also produced mental health videos, for example, Waterford Comhairle na nÓg which produced "Mind Matters", in which they interviewed celebrities, psychiatrists and young people about mental health. One can read about all the Comhairle na nÓg mental health initiatives in the national showcase programme.

There is a certain stigma towards mental health. When one things of mental health one thinks of mental illness or depression, and much can be done to improve this. We need to talk to someone and reduce the stigma towards mental health and the comhairlí have done much work on reducing depression and anxiety in dealing with these, and about body image and feeling positive about oneself and one's own mental health.

We are here today to represent the work that these comhairlí have done. It is certainly not isolated to these comhairlí. Much can be done by teachers and in schools. Much progress has been made in recent times and we do a great deal in the future. Progress can still be made. Far too many children are being bullied in school and committing suicide.

I thank the committee and pass over to Ms Donnelly who will speak about the solutions.