Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, on her new position as Minister of State with responsibility for mental health and I know she will do a great job. I wish her well in her new important role and I guarantee my support in anything she endeavours to do to raise awareness of, and the importance of, good mental health. I thank Deputy Aylward for sharing his time with me. I have been waiting a long time for this slot, which shows the importance of the issue.

Peace of mind is a natural condition and is available to everyone. Good mental health strengthens and supports our ability to have healthy relationships, make good life choices, maintain physical health and well-being, handle the natural ups and downs of life and discover our potential and grow toward it. Businesses benefit when employees have good mental health. Mental health is associated with higher productivity, better performance, more consistent attendance and a reduction in workplace accidents. It is imperative that businesses provide workplace support for people who are going through a hard time in their lives.

Early intervention is extremely important in the whole area of mental health. If a person is feeling down, it is imperative that there are services and supports available to help prevent their feelings from escalating and becoming unbearable. The whole notion that it is okay not to be okay needs to get out there more. In general, we are very quick to discuss and seek help for physical conditions and problems but very slow to speak of or seek help if we are feeling down or feeling vulnerable.

There needs to be more helplines available and maybe an idea would be to increase the number of age appropriate helplines. The important thing is that people feel encouraged to use these lines. We need to engage and implement a robust strategy to ensure that every man, woman and child in Ireland feels thought of, cared for, safe and well.

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