Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

In speaking to this motion one wonders what is the Government's primary motivation in putting it before the House. It is not a legislative proposal. It contains no concrete provisions. It is short on detail and long on aspiration and therein lies the rub. The Government is high on aspiration but low on delivery. The motion is so broad that one senses there is a clear agenda by the Government to pay lip service to the idea of addressing the young people's issues throughout this island. What young people want are concrete legislative proposals that will speak directly to their concerns. These concerns are well documented and have been brought to Government through representative bodies such as the National Youth Council of Ireland, NYCI. The NYCI is a social partner and the genuineness of this motion will be measured by the Government's response to concerns outlined by groups such as the NYCI. I fear, however, that this motion is meaningless and full of platitudes and that young people have become used to hearing from a Government about the provision of services.

In the limited time afforded to me I wish to address a number of specific areas. The first relates to the health of children and our young people. The NYCI, in its budget submission, calls on the Government to deliver on its promise to double the income threshold for full medical card entitlements for parents of children under six years of age in this year's budget. I believe this is attainable. The Government must look positively on this proposal. Approximately 1.1 million children and young people under the age of 18 live in Ireland. According to the NYCI, only 305,000 of them are covered under the medical card scheme. Access to a GP is vital to ensure that a young person can avail of services to assist him or her through these difficult years. A young person needs to be able to do this without incurring a financial cost. This service would serve as a positive move that would give young people the confidence and independence to avail of vital services but in a way that would ensure confidentiality. Young people living in rural areas in particular where counselling and other services are not readily available would benefit in particular. The Government must also look favourably on families with children over the age of seven and under the age of 18 with a view to ensuring that income thresholds are raised to allow more children to avail of primary and secondary health care.

The second issue that needs to be addressed is the lack of adequate facilities and services for young people who are in need of counselling and require access to mental health facilities. In my constituency of Cork East the organisation Lets Get Together was set up to help others affected by suicide and to examine ways of preventing it. In 2005 the Lets Get Together Foundation linked up with a number of similar organisations throughout the country to set up an all-Ireland suicide prevention strategy, thereby raising awareness of the issue and speaking to local and national media. If this motion is to mean anything, the Government must assist organisations of this nature. The highest rate of suicide is found among young men aged under 35 — this age group accounts for 40% of all Irish suicides. There is a clear lack of a coherent Government policy to encourage young people who are experiencing difficulties in their lives to talk to others about it. The lack of available facts on a range of health and lifestyle issues linking potential users to relevant help services throughout the country is exacerbating the travesty of suicide which has reached epidemic proportions throughout this land. We have the fifth highest suicide rate in Europe among the 15 to 25 year age group and death by suicide is the number one cause of death among young Irish men. The Government, if it is serious about this motion, needs to fund more campaigns of representative organisations such as the NYCI, through the primary care strategy, to reduce the large number of deaths by suicide. Awareness must be raised. Young people need options and to be able to access them in a safe and non-judgmental manner. We have all experienced tough times. Many of us have been fortunate in that we had family and friends to support us. Not every young person has that luxury. Issues such as coming out to parents, unexpected pregnancy, low self-esteem and depression need to be tackled in a non-judgmental way.

On the issue of unwanted pregnancies, now that the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, has admitted that VAT on condoms can be cut to as low as 5%, will she not bring a proposal to Cabinet that the Minister for Finance should cut the tax from 21% to 5%, as was done in the UK and other EU member states? The Crisis Pregnancy Agency has stated that 32% of people have indicated that the cost of contraception is a major factor in the decision not to use condoms, resulting in a rising incidence of sexually transmitted disease and unintended pregnancies. I could go on as there are many issues. However, since I am sharing with my colleague, Deputy Wall, I am happy to do so and will leave it at that.

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