Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleague, Deputy Browne, on the introduction of this legislation. I want to talk about a beautiful young girl from Newbridge, Maxine Maguire, who died by suicide on Tuesday, 7 February last at the age of just 25. She was a much-loved daughter, sister, granddaughter and friend. By all accounts, she was an incredible human being. Maxine had been suffering with an illness for quite some time. When it all became too much on 2 December 2016, she bravely reached out for help and support. Maxine was scared and vulnerable when, along with her family, she arrived at a hospital where she had previously spent some time with the same illness, with depression and suicidal tendencies. It was at this point that Maxine, having plucked up every ounce of courage inside her to get this far, was turned away by the hospital she considered a safe place and by the experts in whom she had placed all her trust. It requires a strength like no other to reach out and seek help when feeling so helpless and alone. Unfortunately, when Maxine sought help in this instance, she was sent home and she received confirmation that she was helpless and alone, that even those who work in this area would not help her, and that she did not matter.

After I met Maxine's parents, I was emailed by Maxine's friend, Aoife Chaney, who told me about the tragedy and heartbreak that unfolded almost immediately. It is very hard to put it into words. Aoife and Maxine's parents would agree that if Maxine had arrived in hospital with a physical illness like a head injury or a virus, she would most definitely have been seen to. I would like to ask a question that Maxine's parents, brothers and friends would want me to put this evening. What criteria are used to decide that the life of a physical health patient is more important than the life of a mental health patient? Maxine was failed by her country's mental health system and was forced deeper into her illness than she had been before, to the point of no return. This is not an isolated case.

Maxine is one of many people who have died at the hands of a life-threatening mental illness. This illness is comparable to many other diseases in so far as it is outside the sufferer's control. The message for sufferers that we hear every day is that they should talk and reach out - that it is okay not to be okay. Maxine's case proves that this is not enough. She bravely reached out and spoke with the most raw honestly and with admirable strength, only to be turned away. It is too late for beautiful Maxine and her family - her parents, Kathy and Robbie, and her brothers, Michael and Robbie. How many more tragedies need occur before something is done? I want to put it on the record that the help Maxine received during the physical part of her illness in St. Vincent's Hospital liver unit and in St. James's Hospital burns unit was second to none. It is a crying shame and an irreparable injustice that it was not until she was dying from a physical injury that was brought about through her negative mental health that our country's health system decided she was important enough to live.

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