Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Hughes for his presentation. This is probably the most damning document I have seen in the two years I have been in the Dáil. It is even worse when one sees it in black and white, word by word and statistic by statistic, because behind every statistic is a person who has been neglected and left behind by the State. It is damning beyond belief. I can only imagine the morale among psychiatric nurses at the moment. It must be on the floor when one considers their pay and conditions. It is damning of our society that this has been allowed to happen. Some people do not want to hear it, but the reason that these decisions are being made and that this document has been produced is that people and governments have made political choices. They have to live with themselves. Some of them do. They can live with themselves while neglecting people like this.

I want to clarify some elements of the presentation. On inpatient beds in mental health services, it seems that a shocking amount of mental health beds were lost in that 30 year period. Will Mr. Hughes clarify that? I am sure there is some sort of proper answer. In Linn Dara in the area in which I live, 11 beds were lost in the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. It is just not acceptable. Sometimes one runs out of adjectives. Things are so accepted and routine. What really drives me mad is that politicians have reached a crescendo speaking about mental health services and trying to bring them together, but when it is put in black and white it is terrible to see. Obviously pay and conditions are pretty bad in comparison with those of other grades. I acknowledge the work of psychiatric nurses and nursing staff. We do not want to play down their role because they are on the front line. Will Mr. Hughes clarify these issues, particularly the loss of beds, the other units which have closed and the mental health spend?

The spend is crucial to the whole issue. A Vision for Change advocates that 8.24% of the health budget be spent on mental health, but we are nowhere near that. People can say that there were years of recession, but the economy is on the up, as people are saying, and that should inform the percentage we expend on mental health. This will keep going on and on until we address it politically and deal with front-line staff. It is great that Mr. Hughes has brought this issue in here. Will things change? I hope so, but they will only change if political choices are made. If they are not made, we will still be here in five years. A Vision for Change was ten years ago. Have most of its recommendations been implemented? Very few have. Reports just gather dust. It is a damning report. I am sure that many people were neglected and let down by our mental health service over that period. It is a shame that this is ongoing, that it has happened and that it probably will happen.

Will Mr. Hughes address those issues, especially pay and conditions, the loss of mental health beds and what can be done? We do not want to come out of here depressed out of our minds. We want to say what can be done logistically and collectively, even though I have said that these are political choices. Something like mental health is so serious that we try not to be political about it, but sometimes we have to be. These are choices. As a country, how do we address the issues I have just outlined? How can we right the terrible wrongs outlined in this document?