Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This is a short time in which to cover such a large subject. In the past year, there has been a different level of awareness among Members of this Chamber than was the case previously. People are waking up to how there are some huge challenges in Ireland in the context of mental health. I was made deeply aware of this during the election campaign. Given that County Wexford has the highest suicide rate in the country, I assure Members that we have serious problems in the area. While I do not have time to go into much detail, we must do things differently for a start. It is not working, there is not a good mental health service for those who have concerns in County Wexford and this must change. The Health Service Executive, HSE, must take a much wider look at people's lives and histories. It must promote talking therapies ahead of medication and if medication is being provided, it should never be in isolation from regular talking therapies.

The austerity measures that were implemented in recent years have had a dramatic effect on people with mental health challenges and we are starting to understand there is a strong link between mental health issues and people's social conditions; they are not independent of each other. I am aware, from talking to many of those involved in this area in County Wexford, that it is necessary to make service users much more involved and they must be brought into the fold when decisions are being made about mental health services. This is not being done in my locality in particular and counties Carlow and Kilkenny and south County Tipperary are definitely ahead of us in this regard. They have copped onto this and are involving service users, whereas this is not happening in County Wexford for some strange reason. People who have been brought through the system or who still are using it know what does and does not work better than anyone and it is a mistake to ignore their voices and not avail of their expertise and skills. Obviously, County Wexford needs 24-hour mental health services that integrate peer support workers but it will be necessary to create the care in the community services that were promised but not delivered, as they are completely absent at present.

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