Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We had better get going because time is short. Like other Deputies, I wish the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, every success in her portfolio. She will leave no stone unturned in dealing with this issue. She will have the co-operation of all Members in tackling what is a problem for society. Every Deputy knows the situation and has seen the stress, heartbreak and puzzlement of children, aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters as they try to grapple with their families' tragedies.

We have heard all of the statistics, for example, the 11,000 people presenting at accident and emergency departments last year after self-harming, and about budget cutbacks, but I will not dwell on the latter. I want to move forward and try to rectify funding cuts or improve the service so that no one is left without help. Too often, people in my locality present at a hospital but cannot be looked after. This is not the staff's fault. Rather, it is because there is no money to provide the service. This aspect of community services is important.

I wish to refer to my constituency. The Minister of State will know a bit about it. Jigsaw, the mental health counselling service for young people, closed in County Roscommon last February because it could not recruit a clinical co-ordinator. The good news is that the service will re-open shortly, but only on a limited basis and without a full staff complement. The people in charge at Headstrong promised us that a full-time clinical co-ordinator would be put in place, but that will not happen. These services are important. Jigsaw provided a vital service for young people in Roscommon, with free counselling for people aged between 15 and 25 years of age. It was temporarily closed in February due to problems with recruiting clinical staff to deliver an important one-to-one service for young people. Despite four attempts, the most recent of which occurred this month, Headstrong was unable to fill the clinical roles needed to establish a full service for Roscommon. Now, the service will only re-open on a limited basis.

I want people to take note of my next few lines. In the past three years, 409 young people accessed Jigsaw's services in County Roscommon, including 96 in the past year. Jigsaw is an important service for Roscommon and everywhere else it operates. Ours was a good service. I hope that the Minister of State can do something to reinstate a full service so that young people can be looked after.

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