Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Penrose for initiating this debate. I also wish Deputies Brennan and Seán Power well in their recent appointments. The Department of Social and Family Affairs is important to many people, be they pensioners, unemployed, those with disabilities or carers.

Those caring for the mentally ill are often ignored. While they may not have the same physical pressures as those caring for the elderly or those with a disability, they must bear immense psychological stress and pressure. Last year, 10,500 people presented at accident and emergency departments having attempted to take their lives. A fifth of that number, 2,100, had presented for the second time in the same year. Can one imagine the stress their carers are under and the lack of recognition and assistance they receive? Approximately 50,000 people have attempted to take their lives but did not present at accident and emergency. Several parents have contacted me as to how to deal with their young daughters who have overdosed on several occasions yet refuse to seek help. Those people, the majority of whom are parents of young people, are under extreme pressure. As no community-based psychiatric facilities are available, no assessments are available to them.

While I agree it does not fall within the Minister's direct remit, I will give an example of such a case. I know of a young girl who in May 2000 suffered from depression, but recovered within two months and went on to third level studies. She relapsed into a deeper depression but she was able to resume her third-level studies in October. In May 2002, she became severely depressed and required ECT treatment but did not fully recover. Her parents referred her to St. Patrick's Hospital in Dublin on 13 September. On 18 September, the hospital informed her family she did not have adequate medical insurance. Her mother travelled to Dublin by train and brought her back to Limerick. She was extremely suicidal. She had attempted to take her own life the day after her 21st birthday on 5 August that same year. Her mother brought her to the Limerick Regional Hospital at midnight when they arrived home. Within 12 hours the mother was no longer a carer because the girl took her own life in a shower room in the hospital. I am trying to expose the stress affecting such families in that situation and which is not recognised.

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