Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Browne for bringing the Bill before the House. While conversation is important, so is the action which must accompany it. Of the 165 key recommendations, one has been implemented. That has been stated repeatedly during debate. The one action before us tonight could be the springboard to further actions if the Bill could see its way through the House and into committee for discussion. I call on all parties to support what has come before us. As other Deputies stated, we have all looked for the conversation and sought the opportunity to discuss it further. The people looking in here and those in the Gallery want us to stop talking and to start taking actions. This should be the springboard to bring it further.

Deputy Harty referred to it as a stimulant. Speaking on the plinth earlier, Deputy Browne said it was an opportunity to poke the Government into action. Deputy Butler said that no politics should come into play and that we should all sit down and work together. I would love us all to sit down around the table and leave politics outside the door because people are really suffering. Their lives are in our hands and they are looking to us to come up with solutions.

There are 82 unfilled positions in CAMHS. One of my colleagues said that people are travelling from Sligo to Galway and being refused entry or do not have the opportunity to access it. A previous speaker mentioned that St. Brigid's Hospital was closed. We are talking about the closing of beds in Waterford. Doors are being closed everywhere. As legislators, we do not want to send out the message that we are closing doors on the most vulnerable. We need to tell people that we are here to listen and implement. One of the actions we should take is to vote this through. We should start the conversation piece. We should start bringing it forward.

See this speech in context