Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Ireland's mental health policy, A vision for Change, was launched in 2006. This document was heralded as innovative, exciting, progressive and inspirational. By positioning the service user at the heart of his or her own recovery journey, it promised a new and modern approach for citizens with mental health difficulties. It offered pathways through which our mental health services could be brought into line with best practice models from around the world. A Vision for Change shifted the emphasis from institutionalism to community integration. It promised to offer the most vulnerable citizen a critical ingredient of recovery - hope. He or she could recover his or her good health and live his or her life to the fullest. Our citizens would enjoy equal access to good quality services wherever they lived.

The service user would be offered a menu of interventions and supports within his or her community and be truly integrated into that community. He or she could strive towards living a meaningful life and achieve a true sense of belonging at home, as a member of the local community rather than being in a hospital. Multidisciplinary teams delivering supports to individuals within their community would help destigmatise mental illness. Service users would be met at whatever stage they were on their personal journey towards wellness. Embracing the recovery ethos, we looked forward to the modernisation of our mental health services and an increase in accountability, transparency and governance.

However, in truth, ten years on from its inception this policy's implementation has been at a snail's pace. It is easy to be cynical. It can be said that it has been a case of more vision than change. This is not a criticism of the authors of this excellent document or the under-resourced health professionals of our depleted health services, but the truth is that citizens with mental health difficulties and their families have been let down. The light of hope signalled in 2006 has almost completely been extinguished.

We in this House must be advocates for the most vulnerable. We must be relentless in our pursuit of their rights - to ensure that even within times of financial constraints and pressures, our priorities are not blinded. The most vulnerable often cannot be an effective voice for themselves, but this should not mean than we ignore them and prioritise other areas for spending. We need to revisit the A Vision for Change document and prioritise its full implementation. We need to restore hope. We certainly do not need the shameful retrograde step of €12 million of the budget for mental health services to be rerouted to other areas of the health service. Mental health services should never be seen as an easy target.

When it comes to our young people we need to think outside the box and be resourceful about how we engage with them about their mental health. According to the My World survey, which was a collaboration between Headstrong and UCD, 70% of 12 to 25 year olds say that with one good adult in their lives, they are connected, self-confident, future looking and can cope with problems. One action that can be taken quickly to build on this is a reversal of the decision in budget 2012 to remove the ex-quota guidance allocation in second level schools. This has led to a reduction of 51.4% in the time allocated to guidance counselling services.

Cuts to such services reduce the opportunity for young people to have crucial easy access to professionally trained counsellors. The ex-quota guidance provision in second level schools must be restored and, if the will and commitment is present, the Thirty-second Dáil has the power. This House can prove to be instrumental in making a real difference by saying "no more attacks on our most vulnerable citizens". It will be the litmus test for what is now described as "new politics".

We should formally embrace, at the highest level, the evidence-based approach to mental wellness as well as treating mental illness. Some of the most vulnerable are vulnerable by virtue of the fact they simply do not have the toolbox of skills to cope at a time of crisis. We need to sow the seeds of mental wellness within our families and our schools.

The Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Health should work together on innovative ways to reduce the incidence of mental illness and on the promotion of happiness and mental resilience among our children. According to research, 20% of children show symptoms of anxiety and a recent survey by Irish Primary Principals' Network, IPPN, revealed that family issues, neglect and mental health difficulties are proving to be the greatest challenges faced by schools. The same survey indicated that three in every four principals feel inadequately trained to deal with such problems as they arise. Schools in different parts of the country are doing different things, such as the roots of empathy programme, NEPS, Paws b and school completion programmes, to name but a few. However, what is really required is a more standardised approach where all schools receive the same support and resources and where such excellent initiatives are formally adopted rather than squeezed into a very busy school academic year.

School-based counselling is the norm in many countries around the world. We need to explore the feasibility of providing such counsellors in schools, including primary schools, in this country too. We need to nip things in the bud. Prevention can be key. Let us lead by effectively showing more passion for prevention, as well as supporting comprehensive strategies for treating mental illness. We need to establish research teams, design resilience building programmes, train teachers and create new posts for specialist teachers in this area. In some secondary schools, excellent work is taking place, such as Headstrong and Jigsaw, where vulnerable teenagers are targeted and their psychological needs addressed accordingly. Unfortunately, such programmes are sporadic and not available in every region. These programmes and initiatives must be further developed nationwide and properly funded. We need to consider designing and making similar initiatives available to primary school children. Alongside the full implementation of A Vision for Change, we need a vision for sustaining mental wellness.

Research is emphatic about the benefits of mindfulness in alleviating symptoms of mental illness. Innovative and overly stretched teachers are teaching its practice in some of our schools. In many countries, it has been integrated within their educational systems because of its potential to reduce vulnerability to mental illness. In the UK, more than 400 secondary schools offer mindfulness meditation programmes. The Department for Education there has designated schools as pioneer schools for mindfulness teaching and it has invested more than £1 million to help other schools benefit too. A more uniformed and formal approach is key where we move away from where mindfulness is squeezed into the day through the generosity of a teacher, who sought and paid for his or her own training, to a system that trains all teachers and supports all schools. Our young people's sense of well-being should be at the heart of education. Ní thagann an óige faoi dhó. Ní mór dúinn cuimhniú gur rud leochaileach é intinn pháiste nó intinn dhéagóra agus tá dualgas orainn sochaí chineálta a chothú.

Enough time, with its lethal consequences, has been lost, too many years now where mental health has continued to be the Cinderella of our nation's health service. This is fundamentally a crucial test for society through its politics. We must not be sidelined or sidetracked into narrow party political concerns, and this makes the current delay of 60 days and more in forming a government all the more shameful. The soon to be Taoiseach and his Government, if the will is there, can place mental well-being at the top of new politics. If the political will is there, it is easily achievable to lead effectively from the front and insist on the implementation of real positive changes to our mental health services.

Mental Health must be a priority of the next government. No more delays. In the words of Benjamin Franklin: "You may delay, but time will not, and lost time is never found again."

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