Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is not my job to be dissatisfied. The services the Minister of State is talking about may reap rewards in the future. I hope they will. I was contacted recently by a woman who lives five minutes away from me. She told me that her 24 year old son tried to take his own life in late October 2015, which was his second attempt in four years. He slit his wrists and came very close to bleeding out. He was brought to Wexford General Hospital by ambulance. A few hours later, the hospital telephoned Christine and told her she would have to take Shane to St. Vincent's for surgery because he had severed two nerves in his wrist. At St. Vincent's they had to wait five hours on a trolley in A&E before he was seen. They carried out the surgery there but would not admit him to the psychiatric unit because he is from Wexford and outside the catchment area. As Shane has been diagnosed with a personality disorder, he is not deemed to be a threat to himself and is excluded from involuntary admission to treatment under the Mental Health Act. The psychiatrist at University Hospital Waterford said he does not need antidepressants.

Things are a little bit more difficult in Wexford than the Minister of State realises. I am not saying that she should realise it as it is difficult for her to know everything that goes on in the country. Wexford is the third most disadvantaged county in the country at the moment. We have 22% unemployment and the second highest suicide rate. In the short term, a 24-hour acute unit would meet many of the concerns of the people I have been talking to until the services the Minister of State has put in place are working better.

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