Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputies Martin and Healy. While I broadly welcome the efforts to fully implement A Vision for Change in the area of mental health, this evening we are seeing more confusion around who is in Opposition and who is in Government. I believe the policy is suffering as a result of that confusion. The Social Democrats are committed to delivering on all aspects of the 2006 A Vision for Change strategy as a cornerstone of the country's mental health policy. The A Vision for Change strategy is a decade old now and it is shameful that no Government has been able to deliver the required changes in that time. The Social Democrats believe that a properly implemented strategy would not only be responsive to individuals suffering from mental health issues, it will also help to equip those with the necessary tools to strengthen awareness of their own mental health and to recognise when to seek help.

Recognising when to seek help is one thing and help being available in a timely way is quite another. We all have very real stories to tell that we have heard from people who come to us. For example, I have had several people come into my office who said that they were feeling suicidal. What does one do in that scenario, where the services are not available? We have to stop thinking of a policy as a document and start looking at it as something that is living. We must look at where the funding is to implement it and do so in a timely way. For example, Ireland has one of the highest rates of youth suicide in Europe. We have to build skill sets into teacher training. We have to reskill those who are finished their training in order that it is possible to deliver classes on positive mental health, particularly in our secondary schools. The restoration of guidance counsellors would be one step in the right direction, with best practice training able to identify and respond to children in need. It is simply not acceptable that people should have to wait for crisis intervention, and that is happening.

The decades of under-resourcing are part of the problem, as it was not just a starting point of 2006. Society requires that this issue be addressed as an absolute priority. Where there are positive moves, they are not moving fast enough. For example, I watched every one of the people's debates last year, mad and all as I might be for doing so. There was not one of the debates in which this issue was not raised. It was the only issue that was a common denominator. This is a problem across the country and it needs urgent intervention.

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