Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am sure the Minister of State is aware that under A Vision for Change, the idea was to introduce community mental health teams to reduce the need for acute inpatient mental health care. As the head of the Psychiatric Nurses Association of Ireland, Mr. Des Kavanagh, recently stated, community-based mental health services remain a mere aspiration. Surely the Government must target this area much more. While we are complaining about the lack of facilities for inpatient mental health care, we all agree that unless the State is prepared to invest in community care and start actively working towards it now, we will not address the problems. I come from the county with the highest suicide rate in the country. This is directly linked to the fact we have more than 20% unemployment and more than 30% youth unemployment. Sadly, we do not have the necessary facilities for people at community care level or for inpatient care. For want of a better word, Wexford is a deprived county and problems in deprived areas, such as County Wexford, must be specifically addressed.

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