Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Browne for introducing the Bill. I wish the Minister of State all the best in his new role. I really hope he makes a difference because there is scarcely a person in this House who has not been touched in some way by suicide. Scarcely any family has not experienced suicide or some form of mental health issues.

The rate of suicide in this country, particularly among young people from 14 to 30, is one of the highest in Europe and the world. We have not gauged the full extent of suicide in this country because there are many deaths on roads that could be attributable to suicide and there are no statistics to back that up.

One of the biggest problems I have encountered is people being turned away from hospitals. That has been an absolute disaster. I have experienced it many times. My son is in the psychiatric services at the moment and I am fairly familiar with the process that takes place. The mechanism of reporting by going to a hospital accident and emergency department first has proved to be very difficult. Another mechanism is for people to go into Garda stations. That can be problematic because often no psychiatrist is at hand. A psychiatrist could be covering ten Garda stations and by the time he gets there the person might have calmed down and ends up getting released, which is an absolute tragedy.

Many young people have ended up in adult facilities, which is scandalous. There are issues with the welfare of children and we cannot allow that to continue. We need to have facilities to deal with that. I have never seen so many young people, especially young women, in the psychiatric services. I have been there constantly over a number of years. Recently I have noticed a huge surge in the number of young women, which is very worrying.

In one case a person actually ended their life in hospital while there for psychiatric reasons. It was an absolute tragedy and how it happened is another matter. I have come across many cases of people being turned away. A young lad was turned away even after his mother pleaded for him to be kept in the psychiatric services. Unfortunately when the woman left, the young lad was let out. He was found two weeks later; he had killed himself unfortunately. It is one of many tragedies we have all come across.

It is not just a lack of money; other things can be done. We need major investment. We obviously do not have enough front-line staff. It is also clear that we do not have enough psychiatrists. It is noticeable that the number of nurses and people leaving the psychiatric services is higher than in any other health service area. We need to find out what is driving people out of those services.

Sometimes even basic things such as blankets and pillows are not available and patients cannot get those extra items in the hospital. Such things should never happen when one is dealing with people who are very vulnerable.

In terms of dual diagnosis, it is my experience that a particular attitude is taken to people who are taking alcohol or drugs. We need to address that. We cannot just turn people away. Many people turn to drugs and alcohol because they have psychiatric problems and that has to be addressed. That requires education on the effects of the drugs being used. Many of them are highly psychotic and are adding greatly to the problem. We need to get the message across that drugs such as cannabis and cocaine are extremely dangerous.

We also need to have a 24-7 service and not a 9-12 one, which seems to be the Government's position. We want a round-the-clock service. People do not just get ill, or have a breakdown or a psychotic incident between 9 a.m. and midnight; it happens round the clock. We must deal with that. We also need to review the facilities for people on leaving the psychiatric services. Many of them want to live alone. Many of them need supported services and we need supported housing for those people because they deserve a quality of life as much as anybody else.

We depend on groups such as Mental Health Reform, Pieta House and other advocacy groups. As many of them are obliged to fund-raise themselves, the State is being let off the hook in respect of funding. We underestimate the extent to which our communities have many volunteers and youth organisations whose work is helping people with psychiatric and other problems. I take my hat off to these organisations, which have done a massive job not just in my area but throughout the country.

The committee has been set up and we have defined the ratios of people from different parties. While we have not determined the committee membership, it is important to have service users, as well as the advocacy groups.

The Bill is a small but significant step. We need to build on it and we need the resources to do it.

See this speech in context