Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Like others, I am devastated that €12 million could be taken away from a so-called ring-fenced budget that the House was told about many times. Like other Independents, I was involved in the talks with the Minister's good self. I thank him for that and for his engagement, but it beggars belief that he would allow this to happen. Are his eyes so much off the ball and is he so intent on clinging onto power that he did not even see this happening?

There are many aspects to mental health issues. A Vision for Change, a so-called great document and Messiah, moved us from inpatient to outpatient services. The Government closed a fabulous institution in St. Michael's in Clonmel, put nothing in its place and sent people to Kilkenny. It was like to hell or to Connacht in Cromwell's time. There is no room or support in Kilkenny and no transport service covers the distance. I know many elderly people who are quite ill and have adult children with mental or physical disabilities. Since there is a dual diagnosis - mental health and physical illness - people are debating whose responsibility it is, pushing papers back and forth and not making decisions. Some of these elderly people have serious cancer diagnoses and are not being allowed to fight their own illnesses because they are being traumatised by the question of where their loved ones will end up.

I salute the voluntary bodies, including the hundreds of people in Clonmel who walked for Darkness into Light last Sunday morning. I enjoyed being with them. I salute Taxi Watch in Clonmel. A new group, River Watch, is being set up. It is sad that, while the Government is fiddling, debating Irish Water and trying to cling onto power, ordinary people in communities must come to the aid of others, rally together and watch for victims and people who unfortunately have slight issues with mental illness that worsen because of a lack of treatment and access to services. The Government is fiddling around with forcing through under sixes' free general practitioner, GP, care and is discussing free care for under 18s at a time when doctors' surgeries are exploding and patients who need services cannot access them. People experiencing psychotic attacks must attend Clonmel's accident and emergency unit, where 37 people are on trolleys today. That is equivalent to 100 in Beaumont Hospital or Cork regional hospital, considering the size of the old Clonmel hospital.

The Government got a wake-up call in the election but it still refuses to listen to people. The Minister is more interested in tweeting on his phone than he is in listening to what other Deputies and I have to say. That is typical, but it will not be long before he is back before the people again and gets a final wake-up call.

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