Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)

I thank Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan for putting forward this motion. I remember vividly the high walls around St. Dympna's Hospital in Carlow so that nobody could see in or out, as well as the stigma attached to those who were signed in. It was a regular comment to make in those days that a family had "signed in" their loved ones. The torment associated with a public display of the fact that a family was not in a position to care for their loved ones was something they had to endure in their own community. As somebody who worked in the vicinity of St. Dympna's Hospital, I can remember seeing the tractor going to the farm every day, and all those unfortunate people piled on the back of it going out to do a day's work, before going back home in the evening. There was such dejection among those unfortunate people. Many of them had been forgotten by their loved ones, while others were signed in for whatever reason, but were never given the opportunity to play an active role in their community.

This stigma still exists to some extent. I am concerned about what I see in my constituency, where we have low support and high support community accommodation. In many instances, there is no link up with those people. There is nobody available to ask them to come to the cinema or a game. We often talk about community, but I wonder if we are involved with those in the community who are crying out for help in so many different ways.

Some of these unfortunate people come into our clinics, and we have to give them the time to ensure that they feel wanted. As elected representatives, we should lead the charge on involvement. This debate should highlight the word "involvement". We should not forget about them, irrespective of where they are. We should not just talk about Age Action and all the other wonderful groups, but we should work with them. Deputy O'Sullivan has brought forward a motion on this issue, but it should not be raised just once every term. It should go back to the health committee and back in here again, if we feel that the actions are not being taken.

I fully support what the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch has been doing. It is an ongoing problem in families. I remember socialising on one occasion and I met a famous singer. I started talking to him and he told me that he was in a difficult time. I asked why that was the case. It was in early July and the weather was good, but he said that his problem was that he would become manic depressive in a few weeks. He was worried - in July - whether he would have a happy Christmas and if he could not get that out of his system, he would be depressed for the rest of the year. It was hard to believe that this one question could put that man in such a position.

These are the challenges that face us. We have a problem. We should work with it and ensure that organisations with a community base should widen their involvement and include people who have suffered from their time in mental institutions, but who have since moved on. We should help them to move to the next stage.

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