Ms Ashling Dunphy:

I wish a good morning to the Cathaoirleach, the committee members and my fellow young people. I am 21 years old and I am from County Tipperary. I will speak about housing and mental health; two issues which go hand-in-hand and are common across this island, north and south of the Border.

According to the Government’s June 2022 monthly homeless report, 10,492 people were recorded as homeless, including 3,071 children and young people. We must also remember that this figure does not include the number of people who are described as hidden homeless. These 10,492 people call Ireland their home but they do not have a house of bricks and mortar. Instead, they are cast away into hotels, bed and breakfast accommodation, family hubs and hostels. Inadequate, overcrowded emergency accommodation is not a long-term sustainable solution to this crisis. These people need homes of their own along with community support and access to amenities.

I cannot represent a young person who is homeless, but I can say that life on this island for many young people is already a struggle. The added social barrier of homelessness has a major impact on the general well-being of young people. The housing crisis has a serious impact on mental health. It leaves people in a state of uncertainty. This is made worse by inadequate service provision for mental health, with overly long waiting lists and services stretched beyond means. We have children attending adult psychiatric hospitals due to the lack of services across the Republic. We only have three eating disorder beds. With a population of 5 million that is growing - it is the youngest population in Europe - this is simply not enough.

When I was growing up, mental health was a huge part of my life. My grandmother, nanny Lily, was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Now, at 21, I can understand the effects that a lack of services can have on the individual, the family unit and those close to the person. The psychiatric hospital that my nanny attended was closed in 2008 and was not replaced. This reduced the services available for people in Tipperary. Yet, Tipperary has one of the highest rates of deaths by suicide in Ireland. I have experience with both CAMHS and the adult mental health service, having been diagnosed with general anxiety disorder and clinical depression. I was very lucky to be able to access the services I need but, unfortunately, that is not the case for everyone. Often, it is community organisations that are left to pick up the pieces.

The current mental health situation is a crisis. It is not something a cup of tea and a chat can fix, nor should it be left for charities to deal with. We need professional services that include dual diagnosis run by trained experts who can provide the necessary interventions. No young person on either side of the Border should have to stand in a guard of honour at the funeral of a friend who could not access emergency mental health care. Last week’s announcement of €1.149 billion for mental health provision in budget 2023 was great news, but there are fundamental issues that funding cannot fix. We need to question why we have so many professionals leaving this line of work. We must ensure that they are paid good wages, are supported in their work and are given opportunities to grow and develop in their practice.

A lot has changed in the past century, but we have to ensure that we are not leaving those on the margins of society behind any more as we look ahead to our constitutional future. We must be open to discussion about what affects people across this island. Our elected representatives have a duty to serve the interests of all members of society. These are issues that the North and the South are facing in the here and now. Without properly addressing these issues that materially affect people’s lives, how can we have a chance of developing understanding and consensus across communities and across the Border so that we can begin to consider our constitutional future? In order to achieve change, we need to take both of these issues seriously by speaking to those most affected and developing social policies to create an Ireland for all.