Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. Our mental health services are in crisis, with little more than 6% of the national health budget being channelled into mental health. A Vision for Change envisages that rising to 10% and we all support that. The effects of early discharges from inpatient services is that we have 1,200 fewer mental health staff than in 2006. The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, CAMHS, has little more than half the staff it needs. The suicide prevention strategy, Connecting for Life, needs to be ratcheted up. In my own county of Laois, there have been nine suicides this month. I was at the wake of the latest one last night. A colleague and friend of mine, at 62 years of age, took his own life. The services are paper thin.

In the case of children, there is no child psychologist in County Laois at present. I raised this with the Minister by way of a parliamentary question. I understand that the Minister says he cannot intervene directly, but I ask him to speak to HSE. I point out to him that County Laois needs a child psychologist urgently. At the same time as all this is happening, the mental health budget has been stripped of €12 million from the extra €35 million allocated for mental health this year, which was to be ring-fenced.

There are many reasons for suicide. Most of them can be fixed. Among the reasons can be financial stress, drugs, alcohol, family relationship breakdown, lack of self-worth or the overuse of so-called social media.

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I use the term "so-called" deliberately as there is an awful lack of real communication. Most important is to listen to and understand each other in the context of minding our mental health and well-being. All of it can be overcome. Some of it requires simple changes such as just listening to people, taking time out for each other, trying to understand each other and giving each other space. We in the Dáil and those in government must respond. We must improve the health service. Sinn Féin has put forward a suite of measures which I do not have time to outline, but they are in our proposals. We ask the outgoing Government and the incoming Government to consider them as a matter of urgency and to improve matters by directing resources where they are needed.

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